As Trump Zeroes in on San Francisco, Lurie’s Strategy of Silence is Not Working: 5 Reasons He Needs to Speak Up
SF Mayor Daniel Lurie’s allies have celebrated his “strategy” of silence over calling out Trump’s attacks on immigrants and dissenters, but it’s obvious that strategy has failed as Trump ramps up his plans for creating chaos in San Francisco. Back in August, Trump threatened to turn the United States military on San Francisco; this week, he made it even clearer by adding San Francisco to the top of his list of the next targets for U.S. military intervention saying, “We’re going to straighten them out… it’s a war.”
In contrast to big city mayors like Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has declined to speak out against ICE kidnappings in this city or against Trump’s promise to deploy the military on us. What we are seeing in San Francisco is a stunning lack of leadership from a Democratic mayor in a sanctuary city considered to be the progressive heartland of a nation rapidly descending into fascism.
Meanwhile, the San Francisco Chronicle is celebrating Lurie’s silence. According to theChronicle, protesting Trump “takes as much political courage as saying ‘Go Giants!’ in Democrat-saturated San Francisco,” but staying silent as masked federal officials abduct our neighbors and the President promises an illegal deployment of the military to our city is somehow the real act of courage. The Chronicle is wrong. The strategy of silence is not working. Here’s why Daniel Lurie should take a different approach.
1. Mayor Lurie needs to send a strong message to everyone in our sanctuary city that nothing is more important than the safety of our immigrant neighbors.
He needs to prove he cares and will fight for our city. He needs to give people hope at a time when optimism is on life support. People are losing their family members, friends, neighbors and coworkers in a system of striking cruelty and opacity. Everyone — especially vulnerable residents — should be able to rely on the Mayor’s uncompromising support and clear affirmation of our city’s values in the face of this antagonism.
2. Lurie needs to encourage and inspire community resistance.
So far, he has stood by as masked thugs kidnap immigrants, as the City’s District Attorney overcharges peaceful protestors, and even when ICE agents intentionally rammed protesters with an SUV. Despite all the efforts to quell dissent against the President, people still show up every day to put their bodies on the line and stand between fascists and the people of San Francisco. They have more courage than most politicians can ever imagine. A big city Democratic mayor should be encouraging protest, not punishing it. Speaking out would show protesters that he has their back in opposition to Trump’s escalating attacks. Instead, he seems more intent on laying low while prosecutors and law enforcement work to break the determination of protesters.
3. Silence encourages and emboldens authoritarians.
Trump is a bully. No amount of accommodation will appease him. He sees silence as a weakness to be exploited. The idea that San Francisco — a prime target of the racist right wing — isn’t going to be on Trump’s list is absurd. Of course it is. Trump made that even more clear this week. Lurie’s silence has done nothing to dissuade Trump. It just shows Trump that Lurie is weak and that he can walk all over San Francisco.
4. Standing in solidarity with other city leaders can have a significant impact.
The Los Angeles protests showed that the federal government can’t handle mass active resistance. They are trying to staff up for their war on cities, but they’ll never reach the numbers they need — if carrying out repressive policies against active resistance in a single city revealed signs of strain, doing so in many cities simultaneously would spread them thin enough to break their advance.
5. Mayor Lurie should speak out for his own self preservation and reputation.
History will judge him based on his actions, and voters will judge him in 2028. Being the Mayor who was too preoccupied with Nintendo Store grand openings and working on his public image to speak out on the defining issue of our time will be unforgivable and make him a one term mayor.
Mayor Lurie needs to send a message to his constituents, to other cities, and to Trump, and join the movement of resistance cities that is forming around the country.
Trump and his henchmen are fascists and bullies. History makes clear that meeting forces like these with silence is not only complicity, it’s unproductive and will spare no one any pain. Lurie needs to take a stand.