I don’t believe this is most liberals, but I can see a healthy share agreeing with this sentiment about President Donald J. Trump. The social media creatures are the loudest, but it doesn’t make them the majority.
At least, that’s the hope. We are beginning to see the lines between parody and reality get blurred to the point of erasure, given the level of Trump derangement syndrome some people have post-2024. But one former Wall Street Journal columnist had a decidedly different take. Her liberal friends in the deep blue enclaves of California are happy about Trump winning for one simple reason: They can speak normally again.
Abigail Shrier delivered remarks at a speaker series hosted by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute in January and revealed these secret feelings some liberals have for the former president:
WSJ Columnist Abigail Shrier illustrates how California liberals she knew were 'relieved' when Trump won, because they felt free to speak their mind:
— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) February 19, 2025
"I'm in California where I deal almost exclusively with liberals:
The degree of relief that people feel that they can speak once… pic.twitter.com/4ChE7K4wpr
“I'm in California, where I deal almost exclusively with liberals," she said. “And I will tell you the degree of relief that people feel that they can speak once again, whether they agree or not, is really palpable."
Are California liberals happy about Trump winning? I’m suspicious, too. The state went for Kamala; though these people were elated, she lost. Maybe some are, but what gives me pause in outright dismissing this about liberal relief over Trump is the Arizona focus group, where Biden-to-Trump voters loved what the president was doing regarding the Department of Government Efficiency. Frank Luntz also had a focus group of Democrats who thought Trump could be friendlier but loved what he was doing on wasteful spending. They also are very pleased with the pace. They see action.
So, maybe some liberals fit this mold, but I’m willing to wait and see if there’s relief on a freedom-of-speech basis. That right has been under attack from the Left, who are trying to import the German-style method of police raids over memes codified into law here.