President Trump’s Address Uses Fear and Grief to Divide Americans and Distract from His Failure to Present Solutions
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: [email protected]
WASHINGTON — Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, released the following statement after President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress:
“People in this country want solutions to their problems — problems like finding a decent job that allows them to have a good home they can afford, attending schools with the resources to deliver a quality education for their kids, and having the ability to see a doctor when they are sick. But all we heard during last night’s disturbing and hate-filled speech was more blaming, name-calling, and dangerous lies to cover for the fact that the Trump administration is ignoring the needs of communities. This was just another platform for this administration’s cruel agenda to gut spending to support the American people in order to line the pockets of the super rich. Our civil rights laws that the Trump regime attacks are how we won more money for schools, free lunch programs, health care, and more. To deny all communities these resources, President Trump seeks to divide us and distract or silence us by threatening schools, clinics, and businesses that want to be fair, comply with civil rights laws, and ensure equal opportunity. Abuse of power is on full display as we see painful budget cuts to communities across the country who deserve better from their government.
“Delivering a speech at the very location where an attack by a vicious mob of his supporters — many of whom he has since pardoned — took place just over four years ago, Trump doubled down on the dangerous and shameful actions of the first six weeks of his second term. We heard him in no uncertain terms lean in on an overhaul — spearheaded by the world’s richest man — that has wreaked havoc on the federal workforce and put the personal data of people in the United States at risk, all while Congress faces a government shutdown in fewer than 10 days and as critical programs that help working and low-income families hang in the balance. Trump’s message was clear: Elon Musk is running the show at the White House. His fearmongering distracts from the fact that Musk pockets $8 million a day in federal contracts and has minions who make six-figure salaries. Meanwhile, Trump has given Musk free reign to cut Medicaid, education, and more. That is corrupt and morally bankrupt.
“We heard Trump tout the ‘crackdown on illegal immigration’ as a success, yet what we are experiencing is the dismantling of civil rights and making our communities less safe. Federal judges have blocked his unconstitutional executive order on birthright citizenship. Immigrants who pose no threat to our communities are being rounded up for deportation, and an expansion of detention is tearing families apart at a significant cost to taxpayers, weakening the economy. The mislabeling of all immigrants as ‘criminals’ provokes the dehumanization of not only immigrants, but all people of color. Trump’s mass deportation is not about law and order. It’s about power and control. The Laken Riley Act does not ensure or improve public safety and increases the danger to citizens by racially profiling people who are Black, Latino, Asian, and Native American. This represents a dangerous acceleration of the scapegoating of immigrants, profiling of people of color, and threatening the abuse of policing power to violate the rights of citizens, immigrants who are in the United States with permission, and those who are seeking asylum — dismantling our system of justice.
“Nothing that Trump spoke about got to the heart of what is at stake — the lives of ordinary Americans who are completely abandoned by the gutting of federal dollars for health care clinics, school and food programs, and more critical services. Throughout his speech, Trump used fear and grieving families to build support for extreme policies that will hurt the American people and our allies. Trump expressed support for unnecessary additional protections for law enforcement officers even though there are already adequate protections in the law. At the same time, he spoke disparagingly about communities and people across the country to evoke fear as justification for cruel penalties and vicious attacks on his political targets. This rhetoric is dangerous because it dehumanizes people while simultaneously arguing for the expansion of law enforcement powers, militarization, and surveillance.
“It is up to all of us, including our deep and wide-ranging coalition and partner organizations, to step in and protect the rights of the people who have been forgotten in this speech — and by this administration entirely.”
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 240 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.
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