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Can the US Democrats beat Trump by becoming more like him? A Chinese academic weighs in

The US Democrats have pursued “selective Trumpification” since losing power in 2024, but their strategy of borrowing from the president’s agenda and mimicking his abrasive…

By Samantha Johnson / May 2, 2026

The US Democrats have pursued “selective Trumpification” since losing power in 2024, but their strategy of borrowing from the president’s agenda and mimicking his abrasive style risks undermining their branding as guardians of American institutions, according to a Chinese academic.

Two years ago, the Democrats lost the presidency to Donald Trump, along with control of the Senate. That shut them out of power in Washington and left them struggling to regain momentum and political direction.
According to Gao Hailong, a professor at the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), the party has sought to rebuild its platform by strategically adopting elements of the Republicans’ populist playbook while retaining its core liberal democratic values.

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Democrats were increasingly borrowing their opponents’ style and tactics, including strongman-style governance and economic nationalism, Gao argued in the CASS-sponsored journal Contemporary American Review.

Gao argued that this recalibration had been part of a broader effort to respond to the rise of right-wing populism.

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The shift marked a break from the Democrats’ response to the 2016 election, which he described as “surface-level policy corrections”.

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