Listening to Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin deliver her party’s rebuttal to President Donald Trump last week, you’d think she had more in common with him than with the Democrats she was supposed to represent.
That was probably the point.
Slotkin is one of the few Democrats in Congress with a proven track record of being able to win over voters in both parties—a critical skill, especially in a swing state like Michigan, and especially in a party that continues to hemorrhage support.
She survived November’s red wave, hedging out Republican Mike Rogers for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat by a little more than 18,000 votes. Back in 2018, during her first run for Congress, Slotkin flipped Michigan’s eighth district blue, and she made sure it stayed that way in 2020 and 2022.
In other words, Slotkin may be one of the few Democrats normies are still willing to listen to.
That’s exactly how she tried to present herself.
Slotkin started her 10-minute rebuttal by acknowledging Americans want “change,” especially when it comes to the economy. The prices of “groceries, housing, and healthcare” need to be brought down, she said, and manufacturing needs to be brought back to the U.S.
You know who would agree with Slotkin? Donald Trump.
Slotkin, however, insisted Trump just talks a “big game on the economy.” He’s more interested in an “unprecedented giveaway to the wealthy,” and he might just “walk us right into a recession,” she said. She didn’t bother to offer evidence backing these claims, but she did seem particularly peeved by Trump’s proposed tariffs.
Now, there are plenty of reasonable concerns about Trump’s tariffs, but Slotkin can’t deny that the very threat of increased tariffs has already prompted movement on one of the key issues she advocated for in her speech: bringing manufacturing jobs back to states like Michigan.
Just last week, Stellantis announced it was working with the Trump administration “to support further investment in our U.S. manufacturing footprint” and Honda revealed it would open a new plant in Indiana instead of Mexico.
On immigration, Slotkin again sounded like she was rebuking her own party, not Trump: “Every country deserves to know who and what is coming across its border,” she said. Slotkin must be happy, then, with the Trump administration’s latest border crossing numbers, which show a 94% drop in illegal crossings compared to this time last year.
To top it off, Slotkin urged Americans to consider the example of former President Ronald Reagan on matters of foreign policy. Apparently all of the Democratic presidents were unavailable.
In short, Slotkin tried to offer Americans the same package she’s been selling to Michiganders for years: Diet MAGA—without Trump, of course.
The problem is the rest of Slotkin’s party had just spent the past two hours undermining everything she said. Congressional Democrats refused to clap, stand for, or even acknowledge a single policy accomplishment on the economy or immigration.
They refused to even look at the family of Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student murdered by an illegal alien let into the country by the previous administration.
They refused to honor the life of Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old girl in Texas who was sexually assaulted and then murdered by illegal aliens, also imported under President Joe Biden.
They refused to clap for a 13-year-old boy with brain cancer after Trump named him an honorary Secret Service agent, for Christ’s sake.
Instead, they jeered at Trump, loudly interrupting him at multiple points, and then pouted with their stony faces and stupid protest signs. There was zero indication that a single Democrat in the room cared about “mak[ing] our government more responsive” to Americans’ needs, as Slotkin put it, or about winning Americans back.
Indeed, it’s fair to question whether Slotkin herself really believes any of what she said. She’s had her sane moments, sure, but just last week she refused to even show up for a vote on a bill in the Senate banning males from women’s sports—a bill that 77% of Michiganders support.
And we’re supposed to think of her as a moderate?
Therein lies the real issue for Slotkin and her party. Democrats can roll out their new talking points and script nice-sounding speeches all they want, but their behavior last week represents who they really are. And everyone except them knows it.
Kaylee McGhee White is editor-in-chief of Independent Women Features, a Steamboat Institute media fellow, and a columnist for Michigan Enjoyer. Follow her on X @KayleeDMcGhee.
