Send in the Clowns: Dems Unleash Their Next Big Plan to Take Down Trump, and It Is Peak Cringe

We've all seen the new Democratic strategy to fight President Trump's agenda. It involves cursing to seem super-edgy while producing videos they think will score with the cool kids, but end up being worthy of entry into the Cringe Hall of Fame.

The New York Times, however, has revealed there's an actual rhyme and reason to these videos, a concerted effort to connect with a younger generation of voters.

It's called "Dark Woke" and is about as pitiful as you might imagine. The Times makes it seem like some mythical next-level step in the evolution of the Democratic Party.

"Democrats are trying out a new attitude," Styles writer Jack Crosbie gushes. "It’s provocative, edgy, and perilously toeing the line of not being too offensive."

It’s an attempt to step outside the bounds of the political correctness that Republicans have accused Democrats of establishing. And it requires being crass but discerning, rude but only to a point.
Online, it has a name: “Dark woke.”

The problem, of course, is that Democrats are rarely accused of being provocative or edgy. The Times inadvertently explains why, noting that the "dark woke" phenomenon has its roots in the failed "dark Brandon" memes and pointing to two prominent proponents of the new attack plan: Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D).

That's right. Crockett, recently described by the President of the United States as a "low-level person on the very important chart of intelligence," and Walz, who is about as edgy as watching an episode of "Wheel of Fortune" with your grandma, are the new purveyors of what's cool in the Democratic Party.

While "dark woke" exists mostly online, as the Times points out, some communications experts in the party are pushing it as an actual strategy.

“There is an extreme imbalance in strategy that allows Republicans to say stuff that really grabs voters’ attention, where we’re stuck saying boring pablum," a communications consultant and former digital director for the Wisconsin Democratic Party tells the newspaper. "I see this as a strategic shift within Democratic messaging — I’m a big fan of ‘dark woke.’”

Swearing at people and being generally obnoxious is a strategic shift.

Another digital strategist is quoted as saying "dark woke" is a means to combat through "any means necessary" the effective messaging being employed by the Republican Party.

@swalwelleric
What a week
♬ original sound - swalwell

The party that brought you the failed "Dark Brandon" memes and the "woke" politics that killed their electoral chances in November believes combining those concepts is the best bet to get back on the winning side of things.

Just 100% brilliant.

Lisa Boothe appeared on the Fox News show "Outnumbered" on Wednesday to discuss the Democrats' new strategy, accurately describing it as "pathetic."

"It's like the Democrat Party is the party of tryhards. They're just trying so hard right now to figure anything out," Boothe said. "It's really pathetic, and even just reading this New York Times article, they still haven't figured out that they don't have a messaging problem, they have an ideas problem, they have a crazies problem."

Fox News anchor Julie Banderas added, "I'm sorry but you already did do woke, and it didn't work, so adding the word 'dark' in front of it doesn't really sell me, and quite frankly, it doesn't sell the American public."

But this time it's going to work ... or something.

Desperate democrats are trying out a new anti-conservative brand and calling it “Dark Woke”.

Gen-Zer and Outnumbered guest Kaylee McGhee White responds ⬇️⬇️⬇️@KayleeDMcGhee pic.twitter.com/CeCT7E0XBs
— Outnumbered (@OutnumberedFNC) April 23, 2025

Democratic lawmakers have become unsure of how to respond to the current administration. What hurts them the most is losing younger voters, and they think the only way to get them back is to lace their comments with f-words and biting commentary.

However, the "dark woke" phenomenon, which the Times suggests has been employed on the left for years, is definitively not working in that regard.

According to a new Harvard Youth Poll, congressional Democrats' approval ratings have been plunging in recent years, culminating in a survey last month showing that just 23% think they are doing an acceptable job.

That is below the approval rating of Republicans in Congress and even further below the level for President Trump.

It's almost as if the problem hasn't been a lack of curse words or lame TikTok videos. It's an authenticity issue. When people like Eric Swalwell drop f-bombs and try to pull off some sort of James Dean act, but you know full well he got swirlied daily in junior high, it's just going to ring hollow.

Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs summed it up in an interview with RedState last month.

"Democrats are desperately trying to change their image. They realize their narrative of effeminate males and weak females has failed. Now, they're flailing to change that narrative to 'we're tough guys, we're masculine men,'" Jacobs said after Walz went dark by saying he could kick MAGA's a**.

"Their issue is that people see right through these attempts. Americans want authentic, genuine people as elected officials, not pre-packaged, made-for-TV personas."

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