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Democratic congressman Adam Smith (D-Bellevue) is warning that President Donald Trump is “moving in a fascist direction and we need to stop him.”

The warnings of fascism come in response to Trump’s cuts to the federal workforce and federal programs under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), run by billionaire businessman Elon Musk. The Trump administration said it’s cutting wasteful spending, but Smith argued it’s much worse than that.

“You line up 100 CEOs in the country and say, ‘Is this the way you run your business if you wanted to make it more efficient and effective?’ Absolutely zero would say yes,” Smith explained on MSNBC. “This is about Trump and Musk creating a situation where they have the power to do whatever they want to do, whenever they want to do it, without any checks on that power.”

But what can Smith and his fellow Democrats do when they do not control Congress?

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A messaging campaign around Trump as a fascist

I joined with to discuss President Trump’s takeover of our government.

— Rep. Adam Smith (@RepAdamSmith)

Smith acknowledges that without power in Congress, it would be difficult to stop Trump. However, he said it’s a messaging strategy.

“Well, the first thing you do is be very clear about the message and try to convince the American people of it. We have to persuade people to agree with us,” Smith explained in an interview on MSNBC.

“Call it what it is and build support in the country against it,” he added.

But is the messaging campaign working?

But is the messaging campaign working against Trump?

A new Harvard-Harris poll shows Trump has earned 52% support among registered voters, with 33% indicating they “strongly approve.”

Alarming to Democrats? The poll shows Trump is above water with independents (45% support to 44% opposed), women (47%-45%), Hispanics (50%-43%) and Asians (47%-46%). His favorability rate rests at 50%-43%.

Not all polls show a rosy picture for Trump, however. He’s underwater in both CNN and Gallup polls by five points each.

“We’ve got to get our message out aggressively so that we can get more people to agree with us. And also, I think we have to build up credibility amongst the Democratic Party. A lot of people have concerns about the Democratic Party on a bunch of issues. Build our credibility, identify what Musk and Trump are doing for what it is, and build support — that’s how you push back,” Smith concluded.