Van Hollen to Democrats: "We need to fight for something"

Senator says own party "is facing a reckoning"

U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland at the Polk County Democrats Steak Fry on September 13 (photo courtesy of Polk County Democrats)

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“You understand what too many of our fellow Americans have forgotten: that democracy is not on automatic pilot,” U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen told hundreds of Democrats in Des Moines on September 13. “Its survival, its very survival, depends on us.”

In his keynote address at the Polk County Democrats’ annual Steak Fry fundraiser, the senior senator from Maryland repeatedly urged Democrats to fight back against President Donald Trump’s lawless regime. He also faulted members of his own party, who don’t always stand up for core principles.

Van Hollen’s full remarks are worth watching.

The following passages stood out most to me.

“WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED”

Near the beginning of his speech, Van Hollen acknowledged the September 10 assassination of conservative movement leader Charlie Kirk. “These are very troubling and stormy times in America,” he said. “After the horrific murder of Charlie Kirk, we are reminded again about how fragile our democracy can feel.”

The answer cannot be “more violence” or “vengeance,” he added. “And sadly, the president is using this moment not to unite America against political violence, but to engage in finger-pointing.”

“But we will not be silenced. We will speak out for what we believe, vigorously, courageously, and peacefully.”

In that spirit, Van Hollen continued, “we have to confront the threats we face to our democracy from a lawless president of the United States.” He noted Trump’s “contempt for the Constitution,” and how he “talks about law and order,” but pardoned those who committed felonies in the January 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol. Trump “claims to stand for free speech, but locks up students for exercising it.” He is also “playing politics with the National Guard” while ignoring “the scourge of gun violence in America.”

Van Hollen cited other harmful GOP policies, like this summer’s budget reconciliation bill, which Republicans originally called the “one big, beautiful bill” and are now trying to rebrand as a “working families tax cut.” That law showered tax breaks on the wealthy, while it slashes health care and food assistance and “explodes the national debt.”

Republicans “left in place a ticking time bomb on other parts of American health care,” Van Hollen warned. At the end of 2025, tax credits to subsidize premiums for Affordable Care Act health insurance policies will expire. When that happens, an estimated 4 million Americans will lose their health insurance, and another 20 million “will see a huge spike in their premiums.” (Charles Gaba has been estimating how much more people in each state will have to pay for health insurance if the subsidies expire; here are his calculations for Iowans who buy policies on the exchange.)

Van Hollen mocked Trump’s promises to bring down the price of groceries and housing “on day one.” Instead, “his sweeping tariffs amount to a national sales tax on the American people.” Electricity costs will also go up, “because Donald Trump is waging a war against wind power.”

While Americans pay more for less, Trump “is using the Oval Office to cash in for himself and his family through various crypto schemes, literally selling out our national interests to foreign interest,” Van Hollen said. “It is rank corruption, make no mistake. This is racketeering and rank corruption on a grand scale. It is Trump first, it is American last, and we cannot stand for it.”

DEMOCRATS NEED TO FIGHT A “LAWLESS PRESIDENT”

Having named the problem, Van Hollen turned to what Democrats can do about it. “We do know what Trump and his cronies want us to do. They want us to shut up and go away.”

But in this moment, “every patriotic American must stand up and be counted,” as individuals and collectively. “And that’s why Democrats in Congress need to fight back even harder against this lawless president.”

Alluding to the deadline for funding the federal government beyond September 30, Van Hollen promised, “I can tell you this: I will not give him a blank check to fund his lawbreaking.”

(Speaking to reporters earlier in the day, the senator rejected a possible deal to keep the government open in exchange for a short-term extension of the Affordable Care Act premium subsidies. “Well, I’m not going to vote to fund Donald Trump’s ongoing lawbreaking, right? Because right now, any agreement is not worth the paper it’s written on, because Donald Trump is withholding funds illegally as we speak, including funding for cancer patients” at the National Institutes of Health.)

In his remarks to the crowd, Van Hollen blasted Republicans in Congress, who “have totally surrendered their constitutional duties. Completely. They’ve contracted out their judgment, and contracted out their votes to Donald Trump. They’ve become rubber stamps inflicting severe damage on America.”

For that reason, he said, Democrats need to win control of the U.S. House and Senate. He hailed Iowa’s “critical role” in making that happen, with our state’s competitive Congressional districts and an open Senate seat.

“THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS FACING A RECKONING”

Then Van Hollen shifted gears: “This moment is not just about Republicans.” The Democratic Party “is facing a reckoning. It is time to decide who we are, who we’re fighting for, and how we are going to fight back effectively.”

Traditionally, Democrats have fought for workers, Social Security, Medicare, public education, and civil rights, Van Hollen observed. He recalled a famous quote from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who said of Wall Street and other powerful interests, “They are unanimous in their hate for me—and I welcome their hatred.”

The audience (mostly dedicated activists) was receptive as Van Hollen argued the Democratic Party has “drifted.”

Too often we have come under the sway of powerful, moneyed interests at the expense of working people. And we’ve become a party that too often trims its sails: too cautious, too rudderless, too attached to poll-washed and pundit-rinsed and donor-dried messages. What comes out of the wash is all bleached and blow-dried.

The senator speculated that Iowans are “probably sick and tired of so-called professionals from Washington coming here and telling you how to win elections, as if they know Iowa better than you do.” Many clapped or voiced their approval.

“That attitude will not win elections. We need to change. This moment demands leadership from all of us. People want to know what we stand for and what we’re willing to fight for.”

“THE FINGER IN THE WIND STUFF HAS GOT TO END”

For Van Hollen, “One of our core principles is the Constitution itself.” He recalled what happened several months ago, when undocumented immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia “was disappeared off the streets of Maryland and illegally flown to a notorious gulag in El Salvador.”

At that time, “the message from pollsters and pundits was, ‘Stay away from the issue. Immigration’s a loser. It’s a distraction.'” Van Hollen urged the crowd to think about that. Abrego Garcia was “snatched away from his wife and kids,” in violation of his due process rights. Yet the response from Washington was “mostly duck and cover. Don’t rock the boat. Finger in the wind.”

“But our democracy cannot survive on silence or equivocation. It requires an absolute willingness to confront injustice head on.” Van Hollen became a vocal advocate for Abrego Garcia’s release, traveling to El Salvador and demanding a meeting with his constituent.

Trump administration officials swore they wouldn’t let Abrego Garcia return to the U.S. But eventually, they backed down. “No one in America, and I mean no one, should be disappeared by the state without having a chance before a court of law.” Van Hollen believes the American people understand “this is not about one man. It’s about all of us.”

The Justice Department is “still engaged in a gross abuse of power in this case,” the senator said, but at least Abrego Garcia is dealing with U.S. courts. “And that was our goal. And I will never, ever apologize for standing up for anybody’s constitutional rights.”

For Van Hollen, “the lesson is clear: the finger in the wind stuff has got to end. We also need to stop deluding ourselves that the problem is all about messaging, or volume, or style. We don’t just need to fight. We need to fight for something.”

“PEOPLE DON’T TRUST THE DEMOCRATS TO TAKE ON THOSE INTERESTS”

In the final part of his speech, Van Hollen laid out a road map for Democrats. Republicans consistently stand up for the rich and the powerful. Their version of the golden rule is “he who has the gold makes all the rules. That is an oligarchy, not a democracy.”

Democrats should stand for a democracy “grounded in the true golden rule: that we are all God’s children and that in America, we should treat one another, treat our neighbors as we wish to be treated ourselves.”

The U.S. has a growing and “huge disparity in incomes and wealth,” which Van Hollen called “unacceptable.” That trend wasn’t our destiny, but reflects “deliberate policy choices.” Like FDR, today’s Democrats must be ready to combat special interests who “are calling too many of the shots in Washington.” Those include Big Tech, Big Oil, hedge funds, and Big Pharma.

“People don’t trust the Democrats to take on those interests,” Van Hollen said. To show the party is willing to fight for working people, Democrats need to fix a “rigged tax system that rewards those who make money off of money while penalizing those who make money through hard work.” They should return more power to unions and “people who do the work.” They should advocate for more employee ownership of the companies they build, fight to end “secret money in our campaigns,” make polluters pay for the harm they cause.

In broad strokes, Van Hollen called for a “sane and fair” immigration policy. That means yes to securing the border and removing people “who have committed terrible crimes,” but “no to mass deportation. No to tearing families apart. No to concentration camps. No to surrendering the right of due process.”

On foreign policy, Van Hollen faulted Trump for taking “a wrecking ball to international law,” throwing Ukrainians under the bus “as he hugs Vladimir Putin.” He said the international standing of the U.S. “has also been severely damaged by our complicity in the huge civilian death toll and destruction in Gaza.” Van Hollen has repeatedly said Israel was justified in “responding fiercely” against Hamas after the October 7, 2023 attack. “But the Netanyahu government’s response has gone far beyond targeting Hamas to imposing collective punishment on all the people of Gaza.”

Again, Van Hollen did not spare his own party, even as he called out Republicans. Trump has handed Netanyahu’s extremist government “a blank check of American taxpayer dollars.” At the same time, he characterized the Biden administration as complicit and “feckless when it came to holding the Netanyahu government accountable to the standards of American and international law.” Members of Congress from both parties have continued to vote to send “more bombs for Gaza, even as Netanyahu had cut off all food for Gaza. This must end. We must end this war now, and bring the hostages home.”

Van Hollen closed by saying the U.S. was “at an inflection point. The country is not going to fix itself.” The national party also won’t fix itself. Democrats need to start shaping the future by winning this year’s elections for governor in Virginia and New Jersey, and supporting the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdami. “He is focused on ensuring that people can afford to live in the place that they work.” Van Hollen believes that should be Democrats’ goal in New York City, Des Moines, and every town in America.

The senator criticized unnamed Democratic members of Congress who “have stayed on the sidelines” in the New York mayoral race. “That kind of spineless politics is what people are sick of. They need to get behind him and get behind him now.”

Winning elections in 2025 will create momentum for the 2026 elections, in Iowa and elsewhere, Van Hollen argued. He reminded the crowd that former Senators Tom Harkin and John Culver, Governors Chet Culver and Tom Vilsack, and President Barack Obama had all won in Iowa. “We can and we will win here again if—if we speak to our core values. If we show people what we will stand up for and we will fight for.”

In closing, Van Hollen told Iowa Democrats, “It is up to us. There is no cavalry coming.” We all have a responsibility, and history and our descendants “will judge us by what we do in this moment” of peril for the Constitution and the country.

“We must seize this moment to fight for our future: in the courts, in the Congress, and in communities like this all over America.”