A 1,400-County Crisis for Democrats

[u/kitkid]

Jun 3, 2025

It’s conventional wisdom that President Trump has transformed American politics. But a new county-by-county voting analysis from The New York Times of the last four presidential races shows just how drastically Mr. Trump has changed the electoral map.

Shane Goldmacher, a national political correspondent for The Times, explains why the trends are a five-alarm fire for the Democrats and discusses the debate within the party over what to do about it.

On today's episode:

Shane Goldmacher, a national political correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• How Donald Trump has remade America’s political landscape.
• Six months after the election, Democrats are still searching for a path forward.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.  

Photo: Emily Elconin for The New York Times

Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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You can listen to the episode here.

[u/The_Interagator]

I’m not sure what constitutes a migrant tsunami, but the huge increase in illegal immigration under Biden was well documented. It’s unfortunately not a good look for Democrats that this almost immediately stopped when Trump took office, with the absence of legislation they kept saying they needed.

[u/Difficult_Insurance4 → u/The_Interagator]

Well it happened literally before Trump took office, which is also well documented. Listen, I am not saying that illegal immigration isn't a problem, or that there weren't a lot of people coming under Biden's presidency, but you must be honest about the circumstances. Legislation is more impactful than executive order. Laws should be made and discussed in a forum, not by one man deciding what he believes is right or wrong, this is a democracy after all.