​Patrick Healy, the deputy Opinion editor, hosted an online conversation with four Times Opinion columnists about how anger at President Trump can be harnessed into effective opposition and why Democratic Party leaders are struggling to do it.

Patrick Healy: In my job I hear a lot from readers. Over the last few weeks I’ve received some of the angriest and most despairing emails and phone calls of my career, from people saying President Trump is systematically degrading and destroying the United States. They wonder if there will be fair elections in 2026 or 2028. They’re furious this week about the Signal group chat on national security and war planning. But they’re also angry because they feel there’s no effective opposition to Trump, be it from Democratic elected officials or the party, the legal system, universities or other institutions.

Many Americans feel in real peril. They don’t want to wait out Trump or keep their heads down. They want to fight for their country. So my first question to you is: Why has fighting and opposing Trump proved so hard? Is it simply that Republicans hold all the cards in government? That can’t be the only reason — this anger is palpable in part because a lot of Americans believe something can be done.

Jamelle Bouie: Patrick, I think your initial question can be broken into two separate ones. The first: Is fighting and resisting Trump difficult to do? The second: Why have Democrats struggled to do either?

I do not think it is particularly difficult to fight Trump. Democrats could have, from the jump, assumed a posture of total and unrelenting opposition. They would not have been able to stop most of the president’s actions — that is the consequence of losing control of Congress — but they would have made clear the radicalism of the administration and, more importantly, they would have sent a signal to ordinary Democratic voters that there’s no need to give the president the benefit of the doubt.

Healy: And many voters have been hungry for what you’re suggesting, Jamelle. Why have Democrats struggled to do that?