Chris Murphy

I'm in what they call my hideaway office. So I'm in the basement of the Capitol right now. You may hear some bells going off here during our conversation as the votes for the day get

I don't know that anyone was ready for Trump in his second term. I think there was an assumption both in the public and within the Democratic Party that Trump 2 would look very much like Trump 1, that it'd be a lot of rhetoric and bluster, but it wouldn't be matched with actual action. Things have gone very different than the public imagined and that the party imagined.

I don't know that anyone was ready for Trump in his second term. I think there was an assumption both in the public and within the Democratic Party that Trump 2 would look very much like Trump 1, that it'd be a lot of rhetoric and bluster, but it wouldn't be matched with actual action. Things have gone very different than the public imagined and that the party imagined.

Trump, from day one, began to wage a very coordinated, thoughtful assault on the rule of law in order to enable the transfer of our government from democracy into some form of quasi-democracy to put his billionaire friends in charge. And I just don't know that the Democratic Party was ready.

Trump, from day one, began to wage a very coordinated, thoughtful assault on the rule of law in order to enable the transfer of our government from democracy into some form of quasi-democracy to put his billionaire friends in charge. And I just don't know that the Democratic Party was ready.

And I think even to this day, a lot of folks in the party still think this is politics as normal, still think that we're really not. at risk of losing our democracy, that we're going to have an election in 2026, and that if we just continue to push his approval ratings down bit by bit, that everything will turn out okay.

And I think even to this day, a lot of folks in the party still think this is politics as normal, still think that we're really not. at risk of losing our democracy, that we're going to have an election in 2026, and that if we just continue to push his approval ratings down bit by bit, that everything will turn out okay.

I think that the broad public has been very dissatisfied with the Democrats' reaction, and that's in part why you see approval ratings for the party in the toilet. Slowly, I think the party is beginning to understand that democracy itself is at risk. So our response is getting better. It's getting more precise. But there is still an open discussion inside the Democratic Party as to how

I think that the broad public has been very dissatisfied with the Democrats' reaction, and that's in part why you see approval ratings for the party in the toilet. Slowly, I think the party is beginning to understand that democracy itself is at risk. So our response is getting better. It's getting more precise. But there is still an open discussion inside the Democratic Party as to how

urgent this moment is. And I'm not sure which side is going to win. I think if my side, the side that believes it is like five alarm urgent, doesn't win, we might not actually have an election that Democrats can compete in in 2026.

urgent this moment is. And I'm not sure which side is going to win. I think if my side, the side that believes it is like five alarm urgent, doesn't win, we might not actually have an election that Democrats can compete in in 2026.

So I don't actually know the answer to the first question. If Democrats ran, telling the public that Donald Trump was going to be a threat immediately to democracy, why did Democrats not stand up a more effective, more urgent response immediately? I think losing to Trump for the second time...

So I don't actually know the answer to the first question. If Democrats ran, telling the public that Donald Trump was going to be a threat immediately to democracy, why did Democrats not stand up a more effective, more urgent response immediately? I think losing to Trump for the second time...

When Trump had openly advertised to the public that he was going to try to degrade our democracy, I think it was a body blow to Democrats. And I think there was just, you know, in those early days, a real lack of energy. I didn't understand why when he pardoned all of the January 6th protesters, there wasn't a more immediate response a day later.

When Trump had openly advertised to the public that he was going to try to degrade our democracy, I think it was a body blow to Democrats. And I think there was just, you know, in those early days, a real lack of energy. I didn't understand why when he pardoned all of the January 6th protesters, there wasn't a more immediate response a day later.

There was a proposal to sort of speed through the Senate the nomination of the director of the CIA, and Democrats were all ready to fall in line, not understanding that this was an opportunity to make an argument over why Trump was actually terrible for national security, why he didn't care about the security of this country when he was authorizing his followers to engage in mass violence against our democracy.

There was a proposal to sort of speed through the Senate the nomination of the director of the CIA, and Democrats were all ready to fall in line, not understanding that this was an opportunity to make an argument over why Trump was actually terrible for national security, why he didn't care about the security of this country when he was authorizing his followers to engage in mass violence against our democracy.

But to the extent that the country voted for him having listened to him say that he was going to be a dictator on day one, I think that explanation is pretty easy. They just didn't believe him. They believed him when he said he was going to be serious about lowering prices. They didn't believe him when he said he was going to be a dictator.

But to the extent that the country voted for him having listened to him say that he was going to be a dictator on day one, I think that explanation is pretty easy. They just didn't believe him. They believed him when he said he was going to be serious about lowering prices. They didn't believe him when he said he was going to be a dictator.

And so I think the reason that his disapproval ratings are going up so fast is that a lot of his own voters are now coming to the realization that he didn't mean it when he said that he was going to tackle prices. And the thing he was serious about was dismantling our democracy. And that's not exactly how they sort of read his rhetoric during the campaign.