by Marco de Laforcade (Boston) and Aron Schall (New York)
The 2024 U.S. Presidential elections produced shocking results for millions of workers around the country. Not only did Trump win another presidential election, but did so in a landslide victory, sweeping every swing state and delivering Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress. While poll after poll predicted an extremely tight race, and some commenters saying we likely wouldn’t get the results for days or weeks after the election, the outcome of the election baffled political pundits and establishment liberal figures everywhere. Many are surprised by the apparent gains Trump made with working class voters and minorities. This is undoubtedly a dangerous and horrible situation for the majority of society. So how could this happen, and what does it mean for the working class? And what can we do to fight back? In order to answer these questions we need a thorough analysis of how we got here, how both parties approached the election, and the material context behind the results.
Far-right rises, but Democrats fall harder
On the surface it seems like the far-right has made massive gains, and that American society as a whole has shifted to the right. Liberal pundits argue that Americans are simply too racist or sexist, or that third party voters are to blame for Trump’s ascendancy. These arguments don’t fully capture the reality of the situation. While Trump received around two million more votes compared to 2020, Kamala Harris lost nearly seven million compared to Joe Biden. While more working class and marginalized people did vote for Trump than four years ago, the number pales in comparison to the amount of people who saw no good options this time around and chose not to vote for any presidential candidate. Abortion rights, universal healthcare, an increase to the national minimum wage, and other social and economic policies remain highly popular. Statewide ballot measures which enshrined abortion rights in their constitutions passed in 7 out of 10 states, with Florida receiving a majority of votes but falling short of the 60% needed to pass. Including Florida, that makes five states where abortion rights won broad support while Trump won the presidential vote. In Missouri, where Trump won 58.5%, voters overturned their state’s constitutional abortion ban while passing a ballot initiative raising the minimum wage to $15 and providing sick leave to workers in large companies. Tlaib won her district in Michigan by a landslide, demonstrating the power of a principled position on Gaza in a “red” state.
While it’s undeniable that certain sections of the working class have shifted to the right, and that the far right’s base is highly emboldened and has more power, the full picture of this election shows more so a clear rejection of the Democratic party by workers rather than a wholesale rightward turn. The Democrats failed to deliver on many of their electoral promises, including enacting a $15 minimum wage and extending Covid-era social safety nets like the Child Tax Credit. The Biden administration instead saw these safety nets basically eradicated. Meanwhile, abortion rights were stripped away under Joe Biden’s watch, and his administration has continued to supply billions of dollars worth of weapons to Israel, facilitating an ongoing genocide in which over a quarter of victims are children. The Democratic Party brutalized youth and worker protests and have campaigned on preserving the status quo, promising to be the party of order and of the establishment. Muslim and Arab workers and youth, in particular, have been sharply radicalized by the Biden administration’s policy in Gaza and its role in reinforcing colonialism and oppression around the world.
The Democrats also allowed (and sometimes even facilitated) reactionary ideas to gain ground in the working class. Biden preserved the reactionary Title 42 policy enacted by Trump, using the pandemic to deport over 2.8 million migrants in his first two years in office. While promising to eliminate queer homelessness and AIDS, Biden instead passed a “ban” on state-wide discrimination of transgender athletes in sports which still allowed individual schools to legally bar them from competition. In the face of rising violence against trans people and Trump’s relentless political scapegoating, Kamala Harris waffled on the issue during her campaign, saying only that she would “follow the law” when it came to transgender care. Rather than deliver a fighting message and advocate for policies that would defend the rights of immigrants and queer people, Harris cowered in the face of the right wing and promised only more of the same.
These treacherous policies have exposed the nature of the Democratic party to wide swaths of youth and workers – a party owned by the billionaire class which pays lip service to social justice and economic reform while maintaining widespread inequality, oppression, and declining economic conditions. Kamala Harris was unable to meaningfully separate herself from Biden’s presidency, even admitting that she “wouldn’t have done anything differently” in his shoes. Instead of offering a clear alternative and speaking to the concerns of millions of working class voters, she ran on endorsements from conservative politicians and courted an increasingly dwindling demographic of “Never Trump” Republican voters. By campaigning across the Midwest with Liz Cheney, daughter of war criminal and profiteer Dick Cheney, Harris sent a clear message that she would always prioritize the interests of her fellow elites rather than address the antiwar movement or the economic concerns of millions of people.
For working people, the past few years have featured a sharp decline in living standards as a direct result of inflation. Although Biden touted the Inflation Reduction and CHIPS Acts as victories which would improve the economy, these were moves primarily designed to strengthen the US in its cold war with China which did little to affect the bottom line of most workers. Although inflation has decreased to 2.6% compared to the post-pandemic peak of 7%, the accumulation of price increases on basic goods with no corresponding wage increases means no improvement for most people, despite a supposedly “strong” economy. In reality, the economy is only working for the richest Americans. This is reflected (in a contradictory way) in the fact that people making under $50,000/year shifted towards Trump in this election, while the only demographic that Democrats were able to hold on to were voters making more than $100,000/year. By messaging that the economy did well under Biden, the Democrats came off as out of touch and privileged to many Americans simply looking for some kind of change this election season.
Trump can’t save us from capitalist crises
A significant aspect of Donald Trump’s success came from populist economic appeals which gained an ear in the political vacuum of a lackluster Democratic campaign and a lack of an independent working class movement. He promised to “fix the economy” and bring back manufacturing jobs in the U.S., reviving his old slogans of putting “America First” and using working class language to appeal to a broad range of voters hit hard by the failures of liberal politics. He’s called for a number of empty promises, including lowering taxes for working people and bringing back American jobs, while stoking chauvinist sentiment through mass deportations and attacks on queer people. Trump has even managed to portray himself as the more anti-war candidate, advocating for ending the war in Ukraine in order to focus primarily on fighting China. Mainly, however, he has campaigned on protectionism and raising tariffs on imported goods from countries like China and Mexico. Although millions of people are rightfully disgusted with Trump’s rhetoric and his attempts to steal the 2020 election, he has adapted his campaign strategy to appeal to workers that see no other solutions to the crises they face.
It’s important to note, however, that Trump will ultimately fail in bringing back the sort of working conditions that existed at the height of the U.S. empire. By raising tariffs and engaging in trade wars, inflation is likely to soar as imported goods that the economy now relies on become more expensive. Trump and JD Vance have also expressed that they plan to devalue the US dollar, a further recipe for rising prices. On top of all this, Trump’s plan for mass deportations would do massive damage to the American economy, especially in agriculture, which the working class would pay for with higher food prices. Ultimately, Trump and the section of the capitalist class he represents are totally committed to the continuation of capitalism, in an even more dangerous and brutal form. Workers should have no illusions that Trump’s version of the same exploitative and oppressive capitalist system will benefit our class in any way. In his first administration he oversaw a brutally anti-worker agenda which mainly led to greater exploitation of workers and the climate, with a bigger proportion of society’s wealth going to the ultra-rich. There’s no indication his second term will be any different, with a cabinet full of Wall Street executives and corporate politicians, not to mention Trump’s close political relationship with Elon Musk. Despite claims by the far right that they represent ordinary workers against the “elitism” of “the woke Left”, the hatred towards oppressed people that they preach is a classic divide-and-rule tactic of ruling elites. Attacks on trans people and migrants only serve to weaken the solidarity of the working class. Right populist forces have been able to deflect anger at their own failed capitalist system by pointing the finger at some of the most oppressed workers. As socialists, we need to energetically fight against all forms of oppression, in order to build the basis for a united, diverse working class movement capable of challenging capitalism.
Can another “Blue Wave” stop Trump?
A major reason why Trump has seen so much success with his broad populist appeals is that there is still no strong alternative on the left to cut through his rhetoric and genuinely advocate for policies that would improve the lives of millions of people. Throughout US society and also internationally there’s an increasing distrust in institutions and the political establishment, and for good reason. The working class has lived through crisis after crisis, making it painfully obvious that the status quo can’t go on without increasing misery for the majority of people. But with a lack of working class organizations and traditions, this anger and distrust can easily be funnelled into right populism instead of militant class politics. Trump is a clear reflection of this, as well as figures like Le Pen in France and Farage in the UK. Connected with this is the decline in popularity of establishment, centrist parties like the Democrats, Macron’s RE party in France, the Tories in the UK, and the transformation of the Republicans into a thoroughly right populist party. This makes the construction of mass worker organizations with clear militant demands the immediate priority for workers and socialists in the US and all over the world.
In his 2016 and 2020 campaigns, Bernie Sanders brought to the fore ideas like Medicare for All, free college tuition, and increased taxes on the rich to pay for social services that many people desperately need. Even though he was relentlessly sabotaged by the Democratic party machine, his campaigns demonstrated the overwhelming support in society for far-reaching change, with one of his main slogans being for a “political revolution against the billionaire class”. In his rise to power, Trump has taken advantage of the anti-establishment and anti-elitist mood in American society to falsely posture as a hero of the working class, and pretend to fight for their interests. Meanwhile, Bernie has gone from being a thorn in the side of the Democratic establishment to being one more of their reliable foot-soldiers. Instead of continuing to organize the workers who supported him and start building an independent working class movement, he capitulated and campaigned for both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. With the exception of Rashida Tlaib, who correctly refused to endorse Harris, the “progressive” wing of the Democrats like AOC and the “Squad” did the same, even attacking third party candidates on social media. AOC herself has gone from organizing sit-ins with the Sunrise Movement in Nancy Pelosi’s office to lining up behind the very interests she swore to fight once in power.
These progressive politicians got their start in the “Blue Wave” of 2018, where widespread reaction to the first two years of Trump’s presidency fueled anti-Trump sentiment and led to significant political gains for the left wing of the Democratic Party. Membership in the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) surged, and rookie left-wing politicians gained popularity by promising to change the Democratic Party “from the inside”. Over time, however, these politicians became less willing to rely on the massive base of support which got them into power and more willing to make compromises with the Democratic Party, abandoning the idea of pressuring or leveraging their positions against figures like Pelosi and Biden and instead promising to support them in return for a seat at the table. This strategy has led to a complete dead end, as they haven’t been able to extract any meaningful concessions from the corporate wing of the party. At best they have been outflanked by mainstream politicians who called for Biden to step down while they continued to defend him, and at worst they have totally stopped advocating for the very policies which made them so popular.
This means that it’s unlikely there will be a similar Blue Wave in 2026. While it’s likely Trump’s initial policies will lead to widespread backlash, the Democratic party is extremely discredited after Biden’s presidency, particularly amongst the most active and militant layers of workers and youth.
Unfortunately, the strategy of Bernie and the other left-wing Democrats continues to remain within the confines of the Democratic party, and ultimately is not challenging the status quo. While Bernie Sanders is criticizing the Democrats as having “betrayed the working class”, he himself supported Biden and Harris all along, and explicitly said in a recent interview that he isn’t in favor of forming a new party. Simply advocating for more primary challengers in Democratic districts means fighting an uphill battle and wasting resources that could be better spent mobilizing the kind of campaign Bernie built in his 2020 bid.
The Democratic Party is a completely undemocratic, corporate party through-and-through. The experience of Bernie and the Squad shows how working within this party is a complete dead-end, while endorsing progressive candidates in red states without their own party won’t lead to the coordinated mass movement that is necessary for workers. This “left wing” of the Democrats would be able to push for a massive shift in American politics if they instead launched a new party centered around Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, supporting the labor movement, and ending the shipment of arms to Israel. Unfortunately, they have contributed to the void of mass working class organizations capable of challenging Trump and the growing far-right in a meaningful way. A national movement of, by, and for the working class separate from corporate interests is not just a pipe dream invented by socialists. There exists today a wide opening for such a model, with 58% of Americans in favor of a third party separate from the Democrats and Republicans, and a continued popularity of working class demands.
There’s also a need to understand the role played by labor unions in this election. The increased labor militancy of the past few years has propelled leaders like UAW President Shawn Fain, Teamster President Sean O’Brien, Association of Flight Attendants President Sara Nelson into the limelight. However, these leaders haven’t pushed for working class independence either. While passing statements opposing the U.S. government’s role in the genocide in Gaza, the UAW leadership nonetheless endorsed Joe Biden (and then Harris) for President, presenting a contradictory message despite pressure from within the union to rescind the endorsement. On the other hand, O’Brien cozied up to Trump by speaking at the Republican National Convention and donating $45,000 to its organization. These two developments show the emerging “left” and “right” wing of the new labor leadership, which are still relying on their relationships to traditional parties rather than helping to organize the working class party that is so desperately needed. With public support for unions being at their highest since the 1950s, these unions need to be transformed into vehicles for widespread class struggle and independent politics. Rank-and-file union members have the most important role to play in fulfilling this task as Trump will no doubt set his sights on attacking the growing labor movement.
What’s next? How we can fight back
While many understandably feel lost or in despair at the prospect of Trump’s next term, we have the power, as the working class, to fight back against the far right and go on the offensive for what we actually need. The potential can be seen in the inspiring Gaza solidarity movement, in the re-awakening labor movement winning victories and finding its footing after decades of defeats, and in the wide popularity of a third party and the growing popularity of socialism. The US Project for a Revolutionary Marxist International (PRMI) supports the call for nationwide protests on January 20th, Trump’s inauguration day. This is a crucial first step to show our potential power as workers, and that we can fight Trump’s hateful agenda independently of the Democratic party. Importantly, these actions are making positive demands for immigrants’ rights, women’s rights, and “money for people’s needs, not the war machine”. The PRMI will be participating in these demonstrations in multiple cities in the US. However, clearly one protest will not be enough. If we hope to stop the far right for good, we’re going to need lasting democratic structures and a clear program and strategy to fight for what we need as a class.
Looking at the history of the workers’ movement and movements against oppression, it’s clear that fighting the far right and the capitalist class is possible. Abortion rights in the US were originally won, not through the generosity of the Supreme Court, but through the militant women’s movement. Without the years of labor struggles by workers all over the country, we wouldn’t have weekends, paid time off, vacations, work safety regulations, or a minimum wage. No matter which corporate party is in office, it’s the actions and organization of everyday working people that can shift the tide.
Socialists, anti-imperialists, students, and workers of all backgrounds should begin the work now to build a united front to fight the far right and work towards building a working class party. This would be a coalition of workers’ organizations united around clear demands, completely independent of the two corporate parties and any corporate influence. As long as our movements remain tied to the capitalist class and the Democrats, they’ll continue to be co-opted and led towards the dead end of voting blue every four years while nothing changes. Out of the protests on Inauguration Day, we should build for mass meetings to democratically discuss and decide on a program, strategy, and leadership for a nationwide working class movement. An effective united front will need to bring together the movements and forces which are currently separated from each other: the Gaza solidarity movement, the labor movement, the LGBTQ movement, feminists, socialists and more. Protesting won’t be enough; to win the things we need, we’ll have to use more effective tactics including occupations, walkouts and strikes. Only through bold, strategic action will workers be able to not only defeat Trump, but the whole reactionary right-wing movement while fighting for real change for the class as a whole.
But as long as the exploitative and oppressive capitalist system remains, the far right will keep coming back, and our rights and livelihoods will be back on the line. It’s all too clear today that past victories can easily be taken away by the capitalist class when they have the opportunity. These need to be constantly defended through sustained working class struggle and organization, but we also need a long-term vision for our future. The Earth can’t sustain capitalism much longer, and the conditions for working people and the oppressed all over the world are becoming increasingly unbearable. It will take a revolution to build the kind of society we need: a socialist society which is run collectively and democratically by all of humanity in order to fulfill the needs of humanity and the Earth. The PRMI is a revolutionary organization, committed to helping lay the groundwork for a mass revolutionary party in the US. A party like this, based on militant class struggle, is what’s necessary to stop reaction once and for all. And with capitalism being an international system, we’ll need an international struggle. Our Project is present in 27 countries, and aims to help build a world party that can lead this fight.
The US PRMI calls for:
- A united front of all working class forces to fight Trump’s far right agenda, as well as the capitalist system as a whole. Out of the inauguration protests, we need democratic mass meetings to lay the groundwork, discussing program, strategy and tactics. The Gaza solidarity movement, the labor movement and trade unions, and all workers and students organizing against exploitation and oppression will need to join forces with a common program.
- An immediate end to the genocide in Gaza and all US military funding to Israel. The military-industrial complex needs to be dismantled, with those billions of dollars used to fund free universal healthcare, social housing and a complete transition to renewable energy. We need an end to US imperialist involvement in all wars abroad, including Ukraine, Yemen, Syria and Somalia.
- An end to the inflation and skyrocketing rents which are worsening the lives of all workers. We need:
- An immediate $30 federal minimum wage and Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) for all workers
- Price controls on all consumer items, democratically managed by workers’ committees
- A militant housing movement, organized in tenants unions to fight for a federal rent freeze
- A massive program for union-built social housing, free and democratically managed by communities. This should be paid for by a 40% tax on billionaire fortunes.
- Fighting, rank-and-file led unions in every workplace to defend against Trump’s anti-union attacks and fight for real gains in our living standards.
- Free, universal, high-quality healthcare for all.
- Free abortion on demand. We need a socialist feminist movement in all 50 states to prevent further attacks on reproductive rights, and fight to repeal already existing abortion bans. The movement should also coordinate the distribution of abortion pills to ensure access to abortion for all working class people.
- Full legal equality for trans and LGBTQ people, including bodily autonomy and free, universal gender-affirming care. Workers in industries such as healthcare and education need to organize and link up with the trans rights movement, and refuse to carry out transphobic laws such as bathroom bans and bans on gender-affirming care. The movement against Trump should organize defense committees of workers to fight against hate crimes and attacks on the trans and queer community.
- The right to permanent, legal residence for all migrants in the US. Xenophobia and deportations only serve to divide workers against each other while the capitalists continue to exploit us all. The working class needs to set up defense committees to resist deportations.
- End the militarization and police brutality which is terrorizing working class communities, particularly Black neighborhoods. The police are an instrument of the capitalist state, and don’t “serve and protect” us. Communities should have democratically organized defence committees made up of workers and representative of the communities they serve. Police budgets need to be slashed to fund people’s needs.
- Abolish the deeply undemocratic Supreme Court, which is currently being used as a bludgeon by Trump and the far right.
- A workers’ party in the United States, completely independent of corporate influence and either of the corporate parties. In order to really fight for our interests as the working class, we’ll need our own political organization. A party like this would need to do more than just run in elections; it could lead and organize the class struggle on a nationwide level and win real victories.
- A revolution to overthrow capitalism internationally, taking the wealth and resources of society into collective, democratic ownership of workers’ councils. The resources, technology and science we possess have the potential to completely transform human life for the better, and improve the lives of all. Only through a socialist revolution can these be put to rational use through democratic planning. A society like this could put an end to the oppression and exploitation we face and allow for the full development and creativity of all.
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