Greg Gutfeld, the sharp-tongued co-host of Fox News The Five, delivered a searing critique of Democratic elites on Thursday that left liberal panelist Jessica Tarlov visibly uncomfortable and underscored a widening chasm between progressive ideology and mainstream American sentiment.
Speaking during a segment that quickly moved from banter to blunt political analysis, Gutfeld argued that leading Democrats fundamentally misread the country they claim to represent. According to Western Journal, his comments were aimed not only at Tarlov but at the broader Democratic leadership class, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris, whom many on the left still view as presidential contenders despite their repeated failures to connect with voters.
Gutfelds central contention was that Democrats routinely mistake their own ideological preferences for the will of the American people, while President Donald Trumps instincts remain closely aligned with the publics core concerns. You cant understand Trump because his political decisions align with his personal and patriotic ones, Gutfeld told Tarlov, drawing a sharp contrast with the current Democratic establishment. You understand Kamala. You understand Gavin. You understand Biden because their political decisions are divorced from the things people want.
He went further, accusing Democrats of habitually positioning themselves on the fringe of public opinion and then cloaking their agenda in moralistic rhetoric. Why are you on the 20 of every 80/20 issue? Its because you divorce political desires from human needs. And then you have to dress up your decision as compassion when theyre merely wants from an activist class, he said, capturing in a few sentences the frustration many conservatives feel toward a party increasingly beholden to its most radical elements.
For Gutfeld, Trumps appeal lies in what he called a rare alignment between the presidents personal priorities, political agenda and patriotic commitments. The thing about Trump is, I dont care whether you like him or hate him. Youre suffering from the Trump-American alignment problem. Political, personal and patriotic desires all stack up, he declared, suggesting that Trumps critics cannot grasp his popularity because they do not understand the country that continues to support him.
That argument resonates with many on the right who see Trumps career as evidence of a practical, results-oriented mindset rather than ideological zeal. Trumps professional life as a developer was built literally on understanding the needs of his clients and customers, and his political life has been built on understanding the need of Americans to have a federal government that represents and protects them when they need it to, and leaves them alone for the rest.
This vision reflects the Founders limited-government design, which unleashed unprecedented prosperity and power by trusting citizens more than bureaucrats. It stands in stark contrast to the modern Democratic model, which increasingly centralizes authority in Washington while lecturing ordinary Americans about what their priorities ought to be.
Under todays Democratic leadership, the federal government has elevated the supposed needs of millions of illegal immigrants above the legitimate claims of American citizens. It has made a fetish of the will of the internatonal communnity over the American nation, and put a premium the desires of niche segments of the population transgender activists, racist grifters and the rest over the vast majority of Americans of all races and walks of life who simply want to be free to improve life for themselves, their families and their communities.
Trump, by contrast, has consistently spoken to that broad, often ignored majority since he descended the escalator in 2015 and launched his first presidential campaign. After his seemingly inconceivable defeat of Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, he spent his first term backing up his words, cutting taxes, deregulating the economy, strengthening the border and appointing judges committed to the Constitution rather than progressive social engineering.
His return to the White House has only reinforced that pattern of alignment between rhetoric and action. After his 2024 victory, hes spending his second term doing the same, and by all indications, he means exactly what he says, a reality that unnerves Democrats who are more comfortable with politicians who say one thing on the campaign trail and govern another way in office.
Gutfelds formulation political, personal and patriotic desires all stack up captures why Trumps base remains so durable despite relentless media attacks and legal warfare. His Democratic opponents, meanwhile, remain committed beyond all reason to their own indecent ideology claiming compassion drives them to protect illegal alien criminals at the cost of innocent lives, support a medical-industrial complex that preys on sexually confused children, and oppose common-sense measures to protect the integrity of American elections.
Tarlovs reaction on set at one point hanging her head in her hands symbolized a broader discomfort within the Democratic Party when confronted with the charge that its agenda serves activists and global elites rather than American families. Tarlov had good reason to hang her head in her hands, and her party does, too, as it faces a restive electorate increasingly skeptical of progressive dogma and weary of being told that basic security, biological reality and election integrity are somehow extremist positions.
Whatever the result of the November midterms (the party in the White House traditionally fares poorly) its not going to change that overarching fact that Democrats are badly out of step with the country on issue after issue. There arent many issues in the U.S. where 80 percent of the country is united against 20 percent, but Democrats are on the wrong side of all of them, and on Thursdays The Five, Gutfeld explained why.
Login