Trump Attacks 'The Resistance' in Weekly Address: 'Stop Resisting the Will of the American People'
President Donald Trump again used his platform to attack those lawmakers across the aisle who oppose many of his administration’s policies.
As The Hill reported, the president dedicated his weekly radio address to reprimanding those who comprise what is often referred to from within and without as “the resistance.”
Trump's Saturday radio address bashes congressional Dems: "They don’t want border security for two reasons. Number one, they don’t care about it. Number two, they are afraid it’s going to make me and the Republicans look good and they don’t want that."
— Alexis Simendinger (@ASimendinger) June 2, 2018
“Senate Democrats call it ‘the resistance,'” Trump said. “They’re resisting the will of the American voter and it is not good.”
He expanded on that theme by listing a series of grievances beginning with the waiting times for congressional approval among appointees to various positions.
“From day one, Senate Democrats have shamelessly obstructed, stalled and filibustered the confirmations of hundreds of talented men and women who are eager to come to Washington, D.C., to make a difference,” he said.
Qualified individuals who “want to serve our country” are facing a longer nomination process than those under previous administrations, he said.
“My nominees face a longer average confirmation wait than any in the history of our country,” Trump said.
The president then shifted to policy matters, calling on Democrats to work in a bipartisan manner to help him fulfill his campaign promises.
“Democrats in Congress are also blocking urgently needed improvements to our border security,” he said.
Citing opposition to his border wall plans among other issues, Trump said that the minority party in Congress has “blocked every effort to close deadly loopholes, to keep out vicious criminals and to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs.”
He went on to call Democrats “a disaster at the border” before questioning their loyalty to the nation.
Claiming they “don’t care about” the issue, Trump also said Democrats oppose his immigration policy “because it’s going to make (him) and the Republicans look good and they don’t want that.”
For his congressional adversaries, Trump alleged that opposition to his agenda “comes before our country.”
“These actions are endangering our citizens,” he said, twice more imploring Democrats to “stop resisting the will of the American people.”
While he sparked controversy for abruptly rejecting a bipartisan immigration proposal earlier this year, Trump now says it is time for Democrats to give it another shot.
He urged members of the resistance to “start working across the aisle to deliver for all citizens.”
The anti-Trump position of some current lawmakers and candidates ahead of November’s midterm elections has divided the Democratic Party to some extent.
Some agree that resistance to the current administration should be a sufficient litmus test to elect any congressional candidate in this particular election cycle.
Thomas Friedman wrote in a New York Times column that opposition to Trump is “the only choice on the ballot” this November.
“It’s a choice between letting Trump retain control of all the key levers of political power for two more years, or not,” he wrote.
Others, like The Hill‘s Douglas Schoen, argue that a platform long on Trump criticism and short on policy specifics is a losing strategy for Democrats expecting decisive electoral gains this November.
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