The political activism of the group Progress Action Fund is defined by a mantra that inverts the credo of former First Lady Michelle Obama, who famously told the 2016 Democratic National Convention: “When they go low, we go high.”
Inspirational as Obama’s phrase became for those who hoped Hillary Clinton would defeat Donald Trump in that election, Obama’s words also drew criticism from those who believed her idea was naive.
Those critics — who espouse something closer to an eye-for-an-eye strategy — have since seen their worst-case scenarios realized by multiple electoral failures and Trump’s ultimate return to office not merely unchastened, but emboldened.
Obama’s mantra sounds great, in other words, but its high-road idealism is impractical in today’s political environment where punching below the belt has been normalized, says the realpolitik crowd.
Trump never hides the fact that he aims low, as in his recent tirades against California Governor “Gavin Newscum” — and some Democrats like Progress Action Fund are determined to play on the same field, not above it. The PAF’s mantra is explicit: “When Republicans go low, we go lower.”
The group, which produces progressive-minded videos praised by political influencers “from Eric Swalwell to (brace yourself) even Steve Bannon,” explains going low by saying: “in politics, you have to put your opponent on defense & shape the narrative.”
Trump’s America
pic.twitter.com/Pk4HKUR6Wq— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) June 18, 2025
This week the aforementioned Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) shared a new video by the group, dramatizing an ICE raid that shows masked law enforcement officers separating a young couple on a date, menacingly kidnapping the young woman who was “born here” to transport her to a prison in El Salvador, where she’ll “have lots of company.”
An actor portraying the leader of the abduction says “I’m your Republican Congressman” and, upon hearing that “she’s a citizen” responds “I don’t care. She looks like one of them.” Swalwell captioned his sharing of the video “Trump’s America.”