In Trump's Second Term, Democrats Are Shifting Positions: From Israel and Transgender Rights to Immigration, a New Calculus Everywhere
Two years after US voters delivered a stunning rebuke of the Democratic Party by electing Republican President Donald Trump to a second nonconsecutive term, some of the party's midterm candidates are reassessing their stances on a host of hot-button issues.
Some have dialled back on transgender rights, while others have ramped up efforts to oppose Israel's war on Gaza. Democrats in some of the toughest battleground races are responding to voter concerns — in places breaking outright with party leadership.
Within the party, which is trying to wrest control of both houses of Congress from Republicans in Trump's second term, divisions have only grown deeper. Establishment and self-described moderates have struggled to hold back a rising tide of progressive populism as voters demand stronger, bolder policies. That movement, powered by groups like the Democratic Socialists of America, has produced significant differences among candidates that often depend on where they are running.
The most notable shift has arguably been on Israel. After Hamas's October 7, 2023 attacks, Israel launched its war in Gaza, killing more than 74,000 Palestinians. A Pew Research Center survey conducted earlier this year suggested 60 percent of US adults held an unfavourable opinion of Israel — and among US Democrats the number was significantly higher, at 80 percent.
The shift in mood has reached even longtime Democratic supporters of Israel. Senator Chris Coons, who is likely to chair the Senate Foreign Relations Committee if Democrats retake the Senate, told Politico this month that he wants a 'thorough reexamination' of the US-Israeli relationship and is even willing to impose sanctions on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Another figure shows the change. Earlier this year, 40 Democratic senators voted in support of a motion disapproving proposed military sales to Israel; only seven Democratic senators voted with Republicans to block it. It is a marked change in tone after Kamala Harris rejected calls to feature a Palestinian American speaker at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Yet part of the party leadership remains cautious. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who would likely become majority leader if Democrats retake the Senate, has said the US 'commitment to Israel's security and defense must be ironclad'. If the new Congress includes more progressive voices, that tension is likely to grow more visible.
On transgender rights, the picture has moved the other way. After years of Republican attacks, Democrats in tightly contested House and Senate races have downplayed — or outright dismissed — support for the transgender community, mostly over transgender students' participation in school sports. In Ohio, Representative Marcy Kaptur ran an advertisement saying 'Boys should not play in girls' sports'. In North Carolina, Representative Don Davis released a commercial saying there 'should always be a safe and fair space for women and girls in sports'. In South Carolina, Democratic Senate candidate Annie Andrews, a doctor, said in a new advertisement that she opposes 'biological men playing in women's sports'.
Behind this reassessment sits the now-famous 2024 Republican advertisement that highlighted Harris's support for transgender Americans: 'Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.'
But the retreat is not happening everywhere in the party. On Thursday, at a town hall in Portland, Maine, a transgender college student told Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez they felt 'abandoned' by Democrats. 'They're wrong,' she said of some members of her party, adding: 'The moment you compromise the rights of a trans person in America, you compromise the rights of every citizen.'
On immigration, too, the party carries two voices. During Joe Biden's term, US Customs and Border Protection recorded more than 8 million encounters at the US-Mexico border between 2021 and 2025, fuelling voter concerns. In Texas's closely watched Senate race, candidate James Talarico has positioned himself as a 'border security Democrat', advocating stronger border enforcement and comprehensive immigration reform.
Lucas Holtz, senior political adviser at Third Way, an organisation that pushes for moderate policies, told Al Jazeera that stances like Talarico's resonate better with voters because they are proactive rather than reactionary. He said Harris spoke of order at the border at the 2024 convention but her campaign did not stick with that line afterwards, and more voters thought she was too far to the left.
Among progressives, meanwhile, Trump's response on immigration has prompted a strong swing to the left. After high-profile incidents earlier this year — including federal immigration agents in Minneapolis shooting dead US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti — calls to abolish or drastically overhaul Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have gained momentum, uniting left-leaning groups behind an 'abolish ICE' message.
On the cost of living, Democrats of all stripes have coalesced behind more government intervention in healthcare, though the method is debated. Progressives like Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed champion Medicare for All; others, like Andrews, call for restoring lapsed Affordable Care Act subsidies and limiting insurers' profits. Polling by the independent health organisation KFF suggested 66 percent of US adults now support Medicare for All — a 13-point increase from October 2020. In Holtz's words, everyone has their own approach, but by and large all Democrats want to move to a universal healthcare system — and agree they need to do better than the Trump administration. The midterm results will show how far this gamble of shifting positions has worked for the party.
