President Donald Trump’s speech Tuesday night to a joint session of Congress, boasting of his accomplishments in the first six weeks of his second term and his focus on conservative issues, left many Democrats and activists angered and concerned over the future of the nation.
Among the many issues of concern were fears of deportation in the immigration community, proposed cuts to Medicaid and hundreds of federal employees, including veterans, being laid off.
Newly elected Congresswoman Luz Rivas was one of several women who wore pink to the session – a form of protest and part of a concerted effort to draw attention to women’s rights – as they sat and listened to Trump’s nearly 100-minute-long speech. After leaving the address, Rivas took to social media to say her “blood is boiling” and was frustrated with Trump’s lack of solutions to assist Americans.
“We [House Democrats] want to protect health care by making sure there are no cuts to Medicaid,” Rivas said. “We want to protect immigrants and we want to help veterans. Trump just wants to help billionaires, and that’s it.”
Rivas was accompanied by California State Sen. Caroline Menjivar, who expressed similar feelings about hearing “this kind of speech” in person instead of on television.
“It just boils my blood because when he talked about efficiency in government, you know what that meant? That meant that veterans were getting fired and Republicans stood up and clapped that veterans were getting fired, federal employees were getting fired,” Menjivar said. “He’s trying to take money away from kids, from Medicaid. … We stood there and took that in while being so frustrated by it.”
Nonetheless, both officials said they were “energized” and “motivated” by the address to continue fighting for their community.
Last month, Rivas met with community-based environmental organizations in her district to discuss their concerns about the federal funding freeze and cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Forest Service.
“We want to make sure that these programs don’t get cut because our constituents will bear the brunt of losing these programs that help with air quality, with access to parks, school green yards – lots of innovative projects around climate resiliency that are here in the 29th District that are planned for us,” Rivas said.
It wasn’t just political officials who expressed criticism of Trump’s remarks.
Dolores Huerta, civil rights activist, and influential labor leader said, “There are thousands of people that are being affected by Trump’s actions, [including] the government employees that have been laid off or fired, and so many of them have families that have mortgages to pay [and] other bills, and now they’re without jobs and their families are without the sustenance they need.
“Trump’s insistence on eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies will have a detrimental impact on communities of color and other historically marginalized populations,” Huerta continued. Regardless, “his party is applauding this … as we saw in his speech.”
Sen. Alex Padilla put it simply in his statement, “Tonight’s speech was a disgrace. California and the American people deserve better.”
Maria Luisa Torres contributed to this article.
