- Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan delivered the Democratic response to President Trump’s address. The senator focused on Americans’ dissatisfaction with high prices and the need for government responsiveness. While Democrats on the floor were rowdy, their official response struck a more moderate tone.
- Slotkin emphasized “kitchen table” issues like lowering costs, creating union jobs, reshoring supply chains and ensuring a fair tax system. She also criticized Trump’s tariffs for potentially harming manufacturing and farmers.
- Slotkin acknowledged concerns about record immigration, advocating for border security alongside comprehensive immigration reform to address systemic issues.
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Democrats vocally opposed President Donald Trump’s address to Congress Tuesday night, March 4. One member was escorted out, others walked out on their own and still others silently watched while clad in pink. Shortly after, Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., gave the Democratic response.
Speaking from Wyandotte, Michigan, the freshman Democrat referenced on multiple occasions the dissatisfaction that polling in recent years has shown between Americans and their government.
“Americans made it clear that prices are too high and that the government needs to be more responsive to their needs,” Slotkin said. “But, there’s a responsible way to make change and a reckless way.”
Her speech shied away from social issues, something Trump elaborated on in various ways during his address. Instead, Slotkin stuck to “kitchen table” issues like the cost of groceries, middle-class tax burdens, and the government social safety net.
“In order to expand and protect the middle class, we need to do a few basic things,” she said. “We need to bring down the price of things that we spend the most money on. We need to make more things in America with good-paying union jobs and bring our supply chain back home from places like China. We need to give American businesses the certainty they need to invest and create the jobs of the future. And, we need a tax system that’s fair for people who don’t happen to make a billion dollars.”
Slotkin criticized Trump for the economic ramifications of his tariffs on some of the country’s largest trade partners. She said his tariffs “on allies like Canada will raise prices on energy, lumber and cars and start a trade war that will hurt manufacturing and farmers.”
On the border, Slotkin struck a more moderate tone. She acknowledged that Americans have told pollsters that they’re concerned about record immigration in recent years.
“As someone who has spent my whole career protecting our homeland, every country deserves to know who and what is coming across its border. Democrats and Republicans should all be for that,” she said. “But, securing the border without actually fixing our broken immigration system is dealing with the symptom and not the disease.”
She ended the response by advocating for “engaged citizens and principled leaders.”
