Schiff Whines About Dems Failures, ‘Lack Of Coordinated Response’ To Trump
California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff expressed frustration over the Democratic Party’s lack of a “coordinated response” to President Donald Trump and wants his party to do more to combat the president.
“I think the lack of a coordinated response, and frankly, it took the focus off of where it should have been, which is on the fact that the president spoke and had nothing to say about what he would do to bring down costs for American families that were watching that lengthy address, sitting at the kitchen table hoping he would offer something to help them afford a new home or pay their rent, afford health care, or afford child care,” Schiff said during an interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl.
The lawmaker addressed the critiques by Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, who called the Democrats’ situation “a sad cavalcade of self-owns and unhinged petulance.”
“They’re destroying the economy, and they’re making it harder and harder for Americans to afford things. That’s where we need to keep the focus, that’s why we lost the last election, because we weren’t laser-focused on the high cost of living and what they’re doing now is just making it so much worse,” Schiff claimed — falsely, according to the most recent economic data.
Karl also asked Schiff how the Democratic Party should respond to the president. The ABC News host specifically referenced Democratic strategist James Carville, who has suggested that the party should “play dead” and consider a strategic political retreat.
“We need to be advancing policies and making the arguments about what we have to offer, not simply standing back and letting them collapse under their own corrupt weight. To me, that’s not enough. We need to effectively use litigation as we are. We need to effectively use communication to talk to new people in new ways, as we are,” he added.
A new national poll shows that most Democrats are dissatisfied with how their party’s lawmakers are performing in Congress.
According to a Quinnipiac University survey released Wednesday, 53% of Democratic respondents disapproved of congressional Democrats’ job performance, while only 41% expressed approval.
Among all voters surveyed, just 21% approved of how Democrats in Congress are handling their roles, with 70% voicing disapproval.
The 21% approval rating matches the figure from Quinnipiac’s national poll, tying “an all-time low since Quinnipiac University first asked this question of registered voters in March 2009.”
In contrast, the survey shows that 79% of Republican voters approve of how congressional Republicans are performing, while 13% disapprove, Fox News reported, citing the survey’s results.
Among all voters, 32% approved of the job performance of congressional Republicans, while just over 60% expressed disapproval.
Overall approval for Republicans in Congress has declined by eight points since Quinnipiac’s February poll, with disapproval rising by nine points over the same period.
The Democratic Party has been in a state of political disarray since the November elections, when Republicans regained control of the White House and the Senate while holding on to their narrow majority in the House.
Adding to the setback, Republicans made inroads with key Democratic constituencies, including black, Hispanic, and younger voters. Democrats are not doing well with any polling group.
Since President Donald Trump’s return to office, an increasingly energized Democratic base has been pressuring party leaders to take a more forceful stance against the president’s sweeping and controversial agenda during the early months of his second term.
Frustration is not only aimed at Republicans, but also at fellow Democrats who are seen as too passive in their opposition and what they are doing.
This growing dissatisfaction has contributed to a sharp decline in the Democratic Party’s favorability ratings, which have reached historic lows in multiple polls over the past several months.
On my birthday, my sister smashed the cake straight into my face, laughing as she watched me fall backward, blood mixing with the frosting. Everyone said, “It’s just a joke.” But the next mo
On my birthday, my sister smashed the cake straight into my face, laughing as she watched me fall backward, blood mixing with the frosting. Everyone said, “It’s just a joke.”
But the next morning in the emergency room, the doctor studied my X-ray and immediately called 911—because what he saw… exposed a horrifying truth.
Part One: “It’s Just a Joke”
On my birthday, the room smelled like sugar and candles and cheap champagne. A pink cake sat in the center of the table, my name written across it in looping frosting. Everyone was laughing. Phones were out. Someone shouted for me to make a wish.
My sister stood closest to me.
She grinned, eyes bright with something that wasn’t kindness. Before I could even lean forward, her hands slammed the cake straight into my face.
The impact was harder than anyone expected.
I felt myself stumble backward, my heel catching on the rug. There was a sharp crack as my head hit the edge of the table, then the floor. For a split second, the room spun in white and pink. I tasted sugar—and then iron.
Blood mixed with frosting, dripping down my chin.
People screamed, then laughed nervously.
“Oh my God,” someone said, still chuckling. “It’s just a joke!”
My sister laughed the loudest. “Relax! You’re so dramatic.”
I tried to sit up. Pain exploded behind my eyes. My vision blurred, and the ceiling swayed like it was floating. Someone wiped my face with a napkin, smearing blood across my cheek.
“You’re fine,” my mother said quickly. “Don’t ruin the mood.”
I remember thinking how strange it was that my ears were ringing louder than the music.
I remember the taste of frosting as I swallowed blood.
I remember waking up hours later in my bed, alone, my head throbbing, my phone full of messages telling me not to be “too sensitive.”
By morning, I couldn’t lift my arm.
Part Two: The X-Ray That Changed Everything
The emergency room smelled like disinfectant and sleepless nights. The doctor asked how it happened. I hesitated, then said quietly, “I fell.”
He nodded, unconvinced, and ordered X-rays “just to be safe.”
I lay on the cold table staring at the ceiling, replaying the laughter over and over in my head. It’s just a joke. That sentence hurt almost as much as my skull.
When the doctor returned, he wasn’t smiling.
He stared at the image on the screen for a long time. Too long.
Then he left the room without a word.
Minutes later, he came back—with a nurse, a security officer, and his phone pressed to his ear.
“Yes,” he said quietly. “I need emergency services. Immediately.”
My heart started pounding. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
He turned to me, his voice careful. “This isn’t a simple fall.”
He pointed to the X-ray. Even I could see it—fine fractures branching like cracks in glass, not just in my skull, but along my collarbone and ribs. Old fractures. Healed wrong. Layered.
“These injuries happened at different times,” he said gently. “Some weeks apart. Some months.”
I stared at the screen, my mouth dry.
“I don’t understand,” I whispered.
He met my eyes. “This pattern isn’t accidental. And the impact that brought you in today could have killed you.”
The word killed echoed in my ears.
“Who did this to you?” he asked softly.
I thought of my sister’s grin. My parents’ laughter. All the times I’d been shoved, tripped, “joked” into walls. All the times I’d been told I was clumsy. Sensitive. Overreacting.
My hands began to shake.
“I think…” My voice broke. “I think it was never a joke.”
Part Three: When Laughter Turns Into Sirens
The police arrived quietly. Calmly. Like this wasn’t the first time they’d seen something like me.
They didn’t accuse. They asked questions.
Who was there last night?
Who pushed you?
How often do you get hurt?
For the first time, I didn’t minimize. I didn’t protect anyone. I told the truth.
By evening, my phone was exploding.
My mother crying.
My father furious.
My sister screaming that I had “ruined everything.”
“You’re exaggerating!” she yelled over voicemail. “It was cake! Everyone saw it!”
Everyone had seen it.
That was the horrifying truth.
Everyone had seen it—and laughed.
The investigation didn’t take long. Videos surfaced. Old medical records were reviewed. Witnesses contradicted themselves. Patterns became impossible to ignore.
What started as a “birthday prank” became an assault case.
What they called humor was documented as violence.
I was moved to a different room that night, monitored closely, safe for the first time in years. As I lay there, ice wrapped around my head, I realized something terrifying and freeing all at once:
If that cake hadn’t been smashed into my face…
If I hadn’t fallen just right…
The truth might have stayed buried forever.
Sometimes it takes breaking something visible to expose what’s been shattered for years.
