Arit John and Arlette Saenz
05/15/25
(CNN) Democrats are leaning into a corruption argument against President Donald Trump, pointing to his crypto meme coin and plans to accept a luxury jet from Qatar as evidence that the president is potentially violating ethical norms and the US Constitution.
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Tiffany Muller, president of the Democratic-aligned group End Citizens United, said that how Democrats message their anti-corruption arguments will be critical.
“Voters don’t know who to trust on this issue, and whoever wins that trust battle will win the election,” Muller said in an interview with CNN. “We have to connect the corruption that we’re seeing day to day back to their everyday lives and then also talk about how Trump and the Republicans are using it to line their own pockets.”
Muller and Molly Murphy, president of Impact Research, which conducted focus groups with swing voters last month, recently briefed congressional Democrats and staff on their findings relating to corruption. Voters in those groups expressed concern about corruption but also were cynical about lawmakers in Washington fixing the issue, Muller noted, adding that Democrats should talk about tangible actions they can take to fight corruption, including a congressional stock trading ban.
Trump’s past call to “drain the swamp” and vows to reform the federal government have “helped inoculate him against some of the corruption messaging” among some voters, Muller said. But she argued voters would have “buyer’s remorse” as additional ethically questionable episodes arise.