After failing to consolidate around a single message of resistance to President Donald Trump over the past six weeks, it seems like the Democratic Party finally has an idea of what to say but theyre still struggling to figure out how to communicate that message to the American people. The argument Democrats made in response to Trumps first joint address to Congress is still slightly cloudy. But one version goes something like this: Trump cant be trusted with the economy, hes steering the country into dangerous territory, and hes not focused on the kitchen-table issues the American people care about.Even before Trumps address Tuesday night, congressional Democrats were torn about how to get their message across. Should they even attend the speech? Would their time be better spent talking to constituents and using alternative media to respond? And if they did show up, should they protest, disrupt, or heckle the president, or sit and listen?An early answer to that last question came within the first five minutes of Trumps address. Texas Democratic Rep. Al Green stood up and heckled the president, shouting that Trump has no mandate to cut Medicaid. He was drowned out by Republicans and eventually expelled from the chamber.Other House Democrats wielded hand-held signs with phrases like save Medicaid, protect veterans, and Musk steals. Yet they were roundly mocked online by both Republicans and liberals wishing for more aggressive resistance to the president.As the speech continued, Democrats began to walk out. Some wore shirts emblazoned with other protest slogans, like Florida Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frosts which read No Kings Live Here. And no Democrats clapped or stood for Trump during his two-hour-long speech.And yet this all seemed to empower Trump, rather than boost the Democrats own standing with audiences. One CNN flash poll after the address found a majority of viewers viewed the address as very or somewhat positive including 44 percent who had a very positive reaction.Even after the speech, the Democrats response was still a bit messy. The official rebuttal was delivered by Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a moderate former intelligence official who outran former Vice President Kamala Harris in Michigan and won her Senate seat even as Trump won the state. Prices are still too high, she said, and Americans want change but in a responsible, not reckless way. She zeroed in on everyday concerns: national security weakened by Trumps foreign policy, personal data and privacy put at risk by Elon Musks Department of Government Efficiency purges of the federal government, and the harmful impact of Trumps economic policy on Americans lives.Do [Trumps] plans actually help Americans get ahead? Not even close, she said. President Trump is trying to deliver an unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friendsand to do that, hes going to make you pay in every part of your life. Grocery and home prices are going up, not down. His tariffs on allies like Canada will raise prices on energy, lumber, and cars. Premiums and prescriptions will cost more. And one more thing: In order to pay for his plan, he could very well come after your retirement.Meanwhile, on Instagram Live and BlueSky, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talked up the threat that Trumps proposed tax cuts pose to Medicaid and Medicare. The presidents promise to cut taxes while also balancing the federal budget meant that Republicans would have to gut Medicaid, she said.Other House members talked about Trumps new tariffs against Canada, China, and Mexico, or focused their reactions on his proposed tax cuts as gifts to his billionaire friends. Sen. Bernie Sanders laid into Trumps parallel reality of focusing on issues nowhere near the concerns of the American people.From a distance, these all look like versions of the same argument. But they point in different directions. Slotkins conclusion was for Democrats, and disaffected Trump voters, to keep patient and hold their representatives accountable. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez seemed to call for more confrontation pressuring Republicans, not believing anything they have to say, and saturating media with negative news. And a swath of rank-and-file members just seem to be along for the ride.With a lack of purpose and unity from messengers, it isnt clear yet that their larger point about Trump will break through just yet. And thats partially because Democrats are splintered across the media. They didnt uniformly boycott the address and force attention to another platform, and theyre still relying on conventional modes of communicating with the public. Big presidential speeches tend to draw the immediate attention of highly engaged Americans who tune in. Everyone else will be exposed to it, and the Democrats reactions, in shorter clips online, via commentary on podcasts and livestreams, and through news reports in the aftermath. On that front, Democrats still have a long way to go to break through and get across a concise and straightforward counter to Trumps claims.See More: