“Tonight, President Trump had an opportunity to show the American people that he understands right from wrong, and he failed. He failed to display any contrition for what even some Republicans have called “inappropriate” actions -- soliciting foreign interference in our election, subverting our national security interests and undermining our democracy. He failed to demonstrate that he’s learned anything about the rule of law, our system of checks and balances, and what it means to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
“Having sat through three of this president’s State of the Union addresses, I know that even the most divisive and dangerous President in American history can deliver a State of the Union address that talks about unity, bipartisanship, and problem-solving.
“More importantly, having lived through the last three years under this president, American families understand that the words Donald Trump reads from the teleprompter rarely reflect their reality. Instead, they’ve endured three long years of Twitter rages, broken promises, and all-out assault on their economic and health security.
“So, the President can pretend he’s fighting to make sure Americans have the ‘best’ health care, even as his administration does everything it can to sabotage the Affordable Care Act, argues in federal court to eliminate protections for patients with pre-existing conditions, pushes to gut Medicare and Medicaid, and cut funding to the CDC in the face of a coronavirus outbreak.
“President Trump can talk about a soaring stock market and massive tax breaks, even as working families struggle under the weight of rising housing, health care and child care costs, and crushing student loan debt.
“President Trump can say he wants to make strong investments in our aging infrastructure, even as he single-handedly stands in the way of completing the nation’s most critical transportation project—Gateway.
“President Trump can talk about putting America first, even as he emboldens our enemies and alienates our allies, sends farmers into bankruptcy with his trade war, and leaves us flat-footed in the face of unprecedented challenges like climate change.
“President Trump can talk about a great American comeback, yet it is up us -- the American people – to bring our nation back from the damage he has wrought to our constitutional system of checks and balances and to secure a brighter future.”
