Democrats Search for Their Own Trump

It’s early in 2025, yet people can’t resist wondering who will run for president in 2028. Several Democrats are already jostling to serve as their party’s savior. One of the more curious figures in the mix is Stephen A. Smith. The loudmouth sports commentator seems to be mulling a run for commander in chief.

Whether he runs or not, Smith is part of a trend of Democrats learning from Donald Trump. Trump made politics entertaining. Through his tweets and bombastic statements, the current president made sure there was never a dull moment on his campaign. This style ensured his name was always in the press and made for great ratings. His Republican opponents could never compete. They thought the way to win was through policy wonkery and a legislative record. They were mistaken. The people wanted a charismatic personality who eschewed boring minutiae and gave voice to their anger and frustrations. That man turned out to be a reality TV show host.

Trump changed American politics forever, and some of his enemies realize that. Instead of trying to force politics to revert to the pre-Trump era, these Democrats embrace politics as entertainment. They know how to tweet, make provocative statements, and, most importantly, capture the media’s eye.

There are four potential 2028 Democrats that have adjusted to the Trumpian moment. They are the aforementioned Stephen A. Smith, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, and Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett. It’s a long way to the next election; a lot can change from here to now. But the style these four practice likely will make an impact.

Smith, by biography, is the most obviously Trumpian. He has no political experience whatsoever. His entire career has been in sports commentary, which he excels at. Arguably, he is the most popular sports talking head in the country. It’s rare to meet someone who doesn’t know who Smith is, meaning he has much greater name recognition than most Democrats. Smith, like Trump, is a professional entertainer. He knows how to draw attention to himself and his commentary. Obviously, he primarily talks about sports, but Smith doesn’t shy away from sharing his thoughts on politics and culture. Moreover, his political observations are more well-reasoned than the average celebrity. One can discern this from his comments about a potential run.

Smith is laying the groundwork to run as a moderate Democrat. He complains the party has gone too woke, especially when it comes to immigration and gender ideology. He wants a border and men out of women’s sports. He wants to avoid the culture war stuff and get Democrats to focus on the economy. Basically, he wants a return to Clintonism (Bill’s version, not Hillary’s) with Smith’s own bombastic personality at the helm.

SAS is a master of media manipulation. The press is already talking him up as a candidate, with many reporters speculating about how well he will do. Smith denies he’s planning on a run, while continuing to feed the speculation he will. Polls show him getting at least two percent support in a very crowded field. 

But does SAS actually have a chance? Personally, I think not. Ever since Trump came down the escalator, commentators have wondered whether a Democratic version could take over the blue side. In 2016, Slate laid out the case for how Democrats would go nuts for their own version of Trump. Their hypothetical figure was Sean Penn. Penn is a full-throated progressive outsider who delivers what the base wants in inflammatory fashion: He rants about social justice issues with a raw ferocity that packaged liberal politicians never quite muster. He rips into right-wing enemies with salty language and palpable anger. He’s a loose cannon on Twitter and seems nigh incorruptible. He commands the stage at large rallies, where folks come out just to see a Hollywood celeb. Over the summer and into the fall, he soars in the polls.

One can see this happening—but Stephen A. Smith is taking a different approach. He wants to run as a moderate, not a left-wing flamethrower who hits it off with the base. While SAS attacks the establishment, he wants the party to turn away from its base to attract independents and Trump voters. This is not Some have speculated SAS could draw young men back to the Democratic fold, but that’s not a reliable constituency in a Democratic party primary.

It’s a harder challenge for an outsider to mount a hostile takeover of the Democrats than it was for Trump to do so with the Republican party. There are far more powerful institutional interest factions that can block such a candidate. If the unions, ethnic lobbies, and progressive activists all don’t like a candidate, he doesn’t stand a chance. Those groups would likely frown on a SAS candidacy.

Additionally, the Democratic base may veer to the far left in 2028. Many candidates want to run as a moderate Democrat who ditches woke and shifts the party back to the Bill Clinton era, but their voters may want a very different kind of presidential contender.

That presents an opening for AOC. The New York congresswoman has made headlines ever since she won her primary in the summer of 2018. She always finds a way to make people talk about her, whether it’s through a video she posts online or through a speech she gives in Congress. Her tweets can create news cycles, a power once exclusive to the Donald. She certainly gets the art of political celebrity and has managed to make her way in the entertainment world. She appears at fashion shows and makes the rounds on late night TV. It’s no mean feat to be a media darling for nearly seven years.  

Of course, much of the attention paid to her is negative. Conservative media absolutely hates her. Besides Hillary Clinton and a few others, it’s hard to think of anyone else who inspires more fury among conservative media consumers than AOC. It’s a very Trumpesque quality. Liberal media can’t get enough of the president. Trump’s every tweet, statement, and act fills his opponents with rage. There’s a power to that. It speaks to Trump’s charisma that his foes are obsessed with him. No one gets this worked up about boring politicians. The same, albeit to a lesser extent, can be said for AOC.

The New York congresswoman may have a serious advantage in 2028: she could be the only one running in the Bernie Sanders lane in a crowded field of wannabe moderates. In the final year of an aggressive Trump administration, the base may be eager for an assertive left-wing populism rather than a return to Clintonism. With Bernie being in his eighties, the only likely candidate to advocate for this position is AOC. She will have no problem generating media attention and drawing crowds. She might not win, but if she chooses to run in 2028, she’ll be a force to reckon with.

Her polar opposite is John Fetterman. In contrast to AOC, Fetterman is conservative media’s favorite Democrat. Like SAS, he wants a more centrist Democratic Party. He says we need to enforce immigration law and have a strong border. He thinks woke has gotten out of hand and wants his party to move away from it. He bemoans how Democrats have alienated white men and wishes the party would win them back. Fetterman seems fixated on annoying progressives with his statements and actions.

Whether they love or hate him, nobody can ignore Fetterman, who is always on TV. He also gets celebrity off-screen by distinguishing himself from the pack. Unlike most politicians who dress like adults, Fetterman walks around in a hoodie and gym shorts. The slovenly appearance makes him a personality on Capitol Hill. Everyone notices him and he creates a brand. It’s a populist style that, for better or for worse, helped him become a senator. Along with his ability to deliver pithy soundbites and grab headlines, Fetterman is the kind of celebrity who could make a big splash in 2028.

But he may prove too moderate for primary voters. Being well-liked by Republicans isn’t very helpful in a Democratic primary. Increasingly, Fetterman’s pro-Israel views aren’t helpful either. His own staffers think the senator focuses too much on Israel to the detriment of other topics. The Democratic base’s view of Israel is starting to veer sharply from that of Fetterman and other leaders. If that’s his core issue in 2028, he likely won’t make it far.

The lesser known of the four entertainment candidates is Jasmine Crockett. The two-term congresswoman is starting to make headlines with her incendiary rhetoric. She recently went on a profanity-laced tirade against Elon Musk. She regularly calls Trump a white supremacist and lambasts the “mediocre white boys” running America. She frequently gets into spats during congressional hearings with Marjorie Taylor Greene and other Republicans. This might make her sound like a basket case, but it also gets her plenty of airtime.

Crockett makes the news quite a lot, in spite of being just a two-term congresswoman. One factor that makes her stand out is her identity. She is a black woman, and Democrats have long desired to send someone like her to the White House. The party failed to accomplish that in 2024. Many hope to succeed in 2028, yet they lack prospects. Kamala Harris proved she’s a terrible candidate and is unlikely to stage a comeback. There are two black female senators, but they both lack charisma and standing. Crockett, however, has no shortage of charisma and is slowly building name ID among the public.

It’s rumored that powerful South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn is urging Crockett to run in 2028. If the Palmetto State res the first Democratic primary state (as it was in 2024), the Texas representative has a good shot at establishing herself in a crowded field. Most of the state’s Democratic primary voters are black, so any candidate must appeal to this electorate in order to win. Clyburn sealed the state for Joe Biden in 2020 with his endorsement. If Clyburn feels he wants a black lawmaker as the party nominee, he may well choose Crockett. His endorsement would make her a top contender. 

How she would play with other constituencies is anyone’s guess, but the Democrats haven’t abandoned identity politics and may be eager to elevate a black woman. Crockett, for her part, may shift the party back to woke in order to win the nomination.

Whoever becomes the nominee, they will have to adjust to the Trump era. They will need to have a strong social media presence, entertain on the stump, offer one-liners, and be “authentic.” The four possibilities above all have their weaknesses, but they appear more genuine than the standard politician. They appear to speak their minds without the filter of poll testing and data-obsessed consultants. It’s a trait voters liked about Trump. He wasn’t fake and stiff. He was his entertaining self at all times, which made him a captivating politician.

Democrats are affected as much by this Trumpian influence as are Republicans. It’s doubtful voters want an inauthentic drone like Kamala again. They would rather have their own Trump.