House Democrats kicked off their retreat in Baltimore with Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) declaring that, while they previously vowed to work with President Trump on areas of agreement, there won’t be areas of agreement if the White House doesn’t change.
“Three weeks in the White House has really revealed that President Trump is exactly who we thought he is — incompetent, and in some cases, in terms of our national security, dangerous. Perpetuating a massive con on those who he said that he would stand up against powerful interests,” Pelosi told reporters Wednesday. “He’s out there to Make American Sick Again, put Wall Street first, American values last. Dangerous, immoral, unconstitutional, the Muslim and refugee ban demonstrates that.”
“As long as the president continues down this path there is nothing the Democrats can work with him on,” she added. “To protect the security of our nation, working families, and the sanctity of our Constitution, Democrats will fight this administration, every day with every fiber of our being.”
Pelosi slammed the Trump administration as “reckless, rash and incompetent,” and said the first few weeks “have completely exposed the hollowness of the president’s promises to the American people.”
“He talked about renegotiating NAFTA, but several weeks have gone by, and indeed, a couple months have gone by since the election. He must follow the law, complete the consultations with Congress and start the 90-day clock. He hasn’t done that. The ball is in his court. Where are you on NAFTA, Mr. President?” she said.
“Infrastructure, he talked a lot about infrastructure now didn’t he? We said we’d be happy to talk about that as long as it wasn’t a tax break for his rich friends but a real investment in infrastructure to see real good paying jobs in our country. Where’s the bill? Show us the bill. We’re hearing Trump’s budget is going to be late. How late? Weeks, months, years? We’ve heard that he might not even have a budget.”
Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) insisted that despite being the minority in Congress “we’re not irrelevant at all.”
“We represent the views of the majority of citizens that voted in the presidential election for President of the United States — a plurality, technically, but 48 percent to 46 percent,” he said. “So, we don’t have to have our heads bowed. We don’t have to retreat in any way.”
“We do not believe that Donald Trump, our president — and I recognize him as the President of the United States. I tell people: you know, he was right. The election was rigged,” Hoyer added. “It was rigged by the Founding Fathers in creating the Electoral College. And that is sort of funny. None of you laughed. But the fact of the matter is, it was a device, not to reflect on the majority votes but the majority of states.”
Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), vice-chairwoman of the House Democratic Caucus, said, “Our greatest asset as Democrats is to organize communities, get them engaged, and to get them to express what they want from their government.”
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