Oval Office Address Doesn’t Excuse Trump’s Shutdown

January 8, 2019

For Immediate Release
Contact: Shin Inouye, 202.869.0398, [email protected]

WASHINGTON – Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement on President Trump’s oval office address:

“Lies delivered from behind the Resolute Desk are still lies. Trump’s remarks tonight continue his campaign of fear and misinformation – a campaign that is short on reality and long on fantasies about what a wall would achieve. The Senate can pass a bipartisan funding measure that includes money for effective and efficient border security, as the House has already done.

“Trump tonight made clear that he is more afraid of a handful of conservative pundits than the prospect of putting federal workers, contractors, and their families in a perilous situation. He must abandon his costly pursuit of this vanity project and end the nightmare he is causing for so many families and communities.”

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 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.