Heather Cox Richardson

I thought that they at least I hope they were going to take their power and use it to stabilize the country.

And they didn't.

They punted.

The House of Representatives under the Republicans has been laughable.

It is so badly organized.

The Supreme Court has been grabbing for a ton of power for a while now.

So that's out there.

But one of the things that I think we are seeing is the American people waking up and saying, well, hey, if you guys aren't going to be using your power for us, we kind of like it back.

To wield that governmental power that hasn't been used?

Oh yeah, I think so and I think you're seeing it.

One of the things that's fun is watching the Democratic governors around the country and perhaps even some Republican governors who are very deliberately saying, hey, let's take this government out for a spin and see what we can do for people, right?

And Zoran Mamdani in New York City, again, same thing.

Now, that's not to say you necessarily agree with their policies or whatever, but this idea that the government is designed for the people is very much back on the table.

But I'd go back a step and say that this is not just Trump.

I actually don't think Trump saw something and exploited it.

I think he's a really simple character.

He is not a politician.

He's a salesman.

And he recognized that 40 years of Republican rhetoric had created a population that he could exploit because that's what he does.

He exploits people.