Elie Mystal: Democrats should form a shadow government like de Gaulle did during Nazi occupation

More lessons on defeating fascism

Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle

“We are at war.”

This is a line I’ve written frequently to wake people to the stakes facing our nation. Donald Trump and his MAGA regime have declared war on our freedoms and our Republic. Tragically, too many of my fellow Democrats don’t get that.

That is why I so appreciate what Elie Mystal—NY Times Best-selling author and justice correspondent for The Nation-- said Thursday when I interviewed him about the tactics Democratic leaders should be utilizing to fight back. Mystal urged Democrats to look at the resistance movements adopted by other “nations that been overrun by fascists.” He then cited France’s Charles De Gaulle who headed a government in exile after the Nazis occupied France during World War II.

By way of a quick reminder, in June 1940, Nazi tanks rolled in the streets of Paris as Hitler defeated the French military. An armistice was reached where the Nazis established a puppet government headed by France’s Marshal Philippe Pétain. This pro-Nazi regime became known as the Vichy government because the armistice was signed in Vichy, France.

But French General Charles de Gaulle refused to surrender. Instead, he set up in England a shadow government. British PM Winston Churchill recognized de Gaulle as the leader of the “Free French Forces.” On June 18, 1940, de Gaulle famously delivered a radio address to France from London—which became known as the “Appeal of 18 June” --urging the French people to resist the Nazi occupation. This speech is considered by historians as the beginning of the French Resistance. De Gaulle would continue to rally the French to fight the Nazis— even planning an attack in 1941 on the Vichy government which saw some success and boosted morale of the resistance efforts.

It is in that spirit that Mystal cited De Gaulle as an inspirational role model for Democrats to emulate. Mystal explained that “de Gaulle goes to England and acts as if he's the French President despite having absolutely no power to do so.” Yet De Gaulle “continued to put it out there about what France should be doing.” And in doing so, he played a major role in turning French “public opinion against the Vichy government,” Mystal explained.

The best-selling author then connected De Gaulle to today’s politics. “The Democrats should be doing the same thing” adding, “They are a government in exile, and they have to start acting like it.”

To that end, Mystal was emphatic “that the Democrats should be running a kind of European style shadow government.” He noted that this shadow cabinet could “do counter programming to address every time Trump says something as well as every time Trump or his administration says or does something.” Democratic shadow cabinet officials would respond with not just fact checking but laying out what Democrats would have done if in power.

This idea of a shadow government has long been part of British politics. In the U.K, “The Shadow Cabinet” is a team of senior spokespeople chosen by the opposition party to mirror the Cabinet in Government. As the UK Parliament’s website explains, “Each member of the shadow cabinet is appointed to lead on a specific policy area for their party and to question and challenge their counterpart in the Cabinet.” For example, there is a shadow Secretary of Defense and Home office. This allows the opposition party to be viewed as an “an alternative government-in-waiting.”

It's true we have not formally seen this before in U.S. politics. Although I’d argue that Trump was in effect a “shadow President” for Biden’s term—often grabbing more press than the actual President. But the fact this has not be tried before is why the media would cover it. And of course, the GOP would mock and malign the shadow government---but that would simply mean more press for our shadow leaders.

In fact, new DNC Chair Ken Martin in April announced in essence a shadow cabinet with his “People’s cabinet.” Martin’s goal was that these experts from different fields would “cut through the lies and speak directly to the American people about the reality of the Trump administration’s reckless and dangerous agenda.”

But having experts who are not known speak to the press gets you no press. (Did you even hear about the DNC cabinet?!) We need it to be like the U.K.--with actual elected officials serving in these roles because the media will be more likely to cover them. For example, Rep. Jamie Raskin as shadow Attorney General who would be the point person to respond to what AG Pam Bondi or Trump say and do about legal issues.

And we 100% need a Democratic press secretary who is known and responds daily to the lies of Trump’s Baghdad Barbie.

Elie was blunt in our discussion that “Liberals especially have been lulled into a false sense of security” that we can rely on the courts to save us in the interim and then win in 2026 the midterms. Mystal noted that while district court judges have often stopped Trump with temporary injunctions—increasingly those have been lifted by federal appeals courts and the GOP controlled Supreme Court.

And as to the 2026 and 2028 elections, he urged people to understand Trump will “mess” with both.

Waiting for the courts to save us or counting on free elections in 2026 is dangerous. The fight against Trump’s fascist dreams—like in every war—has to take place daily.

Last week’s “No Kings” rally with millions in the streets was a great example of grabbing headlines in our fight versus Trump. Historians may note that this protest was one of the turning points in our war versus fascism. But we still need more from Democratic officials.

Again, we are at war. Democratic leaders must be creative in their approach to win at least media battles to get our message out about how Trump is not just a threat to our freedoms—but how he’s failing in policy after policy.

You can watch my entire interview of the always fiery Elie Mystal below

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