Democratic Senator Cory Booker failed to stop Trump. He is either a liar or a loser.

We are told to be reasonable. We are urged to be pragmatic. We are counseled to respect the process. But what do you call a person who brings a procedural manual to a firefight? At best, a loser. At worst, a liar who never intended to fight in the first place.

The stark truth that must be acknowledged is this: Cory Booker, a Democratic Senator who cannot stop a Republican tyrant like Donald Trump, is either a liar or a loser. There is no third option. This is not a rhetorical flourish; it is the inescapable conclusion of a clear-eyed assessment of the stakes, the opponent, and the tools at hand.

Let us be unequivocal about the threat.

A man who incited a mob to storm the Capitol to overturn an election, who threatens to be a “dictator on day one,” who systematically attacks the free press and the independent judiciary, and who promises “retribution” against his enemies, is not a standard political opponent.

He is an aspiring autocrat. To treat him as anything less is a catastrophic failure of perception. When a house is on fire, the primary, non-negotiable duty of the fire department is to put out the flames. It is not necessary to worry about water damage or to hold a committee meeting on the proper use of a hose.

Stopping the tyrant is the Democratic Party’s singular, overriding duty. Their entire political raison d’être in this moment collapses if they fail at this task. And they have failed.

And they have the means to stop him. The persistent whine of “institutional constraints” is a symphony of excuses designed for the gullible. The filibuster is not a law of nature; it is a Senate rule. It is a choice.

A party that genuinely believed democracy was on the line would not genuflect before a procedural relic. They would burn it to the ground to pass the voting rights legislation necessary to protect the franchise. They had power.

They had enough votes to shut down the government twice, in March—when spineless Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer betrayed the nation—and then in September—when they threw in the towel.

They hesitated, they negotiated against themselves, they prioritized comity over victory. The Capitulation Caucus surrendered after a 40-day shutdown resulted in landslide victories for Democrats in Virginia, New Jersey, and New York City, and polls showed Americans squarely placed the blame on Trump.

This was not pragmatism; it was either profound weakness or disguised complicity.

The binary nature of this outcome—liar or loser—is dictated by the existential nature of the threat.

In a normal political contest, there are shades of gray. But when facing a potential tyrant, you either succeed or you fail. There is no participation trophy for a valiant effort.

The reasons for failure are therefore stripped to their brutal essence:

• The Liar: This is the individual whose opposition is a performance. They raise campaign funds off the “resistance,” they give fiery speeches for the cameras, but when the decisive moment arrives, they find a reason to stand down. They benefit from the system as it is—the fundraising cycles, the media attention, the comfortable dance of partisan conflict without ultimate consequence. They do not truly want to defeat the threat because that might offend their contributors.
• The Loser: This is the individual who may be sincere in their desire to stop the tyrant but is simply not up to the task. They are tactically inept, morally weak, and strategically bankrupt. They bring a butter knife to a gunfight. They believe the rules of a bygone era still apply to an adversary who has torn up the rulebook. They are defeated by their own inability to recognize the nature of the fight and to wield the power they possess with the necessary ruthlessness.

The evidence is overwhelming.

An impeachment without a relentless, unified strategy to secure a conviction was political theater, not a decisive blow.

The failure to use every lever of power, when they controlled them, to enact structural safeguards against authoritarianism was a choice.

These are not minor missteps; they are the signature of a party that is either unwilling or unable to do what is required.

The time for polite excuses is over. The American project is at a precipice. We can no longer afford leaders who see this struggle as just another political season.

The Democratic Party must purge itself of both the liars and the losers.

The stakes are too high, the threat too clear. You either stop the tyrant, or you are complicit in his rise. There is no middle ground.

Senator Cory Booker failed to stop Trump, and he is not on your side.