'Who's he working for?' Congressman slams Trump's first days in office
A Democratic lawmaker shredded Donald Trump's claims that he is a "friend to police more than any president that's ever been in this office."
The president was asked whether his sweeping pardons of Jan. 6 rioters – including individuals convicted of violently assaulting police officers – sent a message that undermines law and order, and Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) dismantled Trump's denials and insisted that Republicans should take accountability for the party's undisputed leader's actions.
"Congressional Republicans are all ducking and dodging, and I never want to hear them say 'back the blue' ever again, after providing political cover for this abomination," Auchincloss told "CNN This Morning." "These are people who violently assaulted officers of the law while trying to to inspect our democracy. It's not just these pardons, by the way. Last Congress, the Republicans tried to defund the FBI. This term, they're seeking to undermine the ATF's ability to regulate ghost guns. These are weapons that can pass through a metal detector without being detected. All of these things make officers of the law less safe and undermine our ability to enforce the law in this country, and yet they try to claim that they're the law and order party. It's no longer supportable."
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Some conservative commentators, including the Wall Street Journal's editorial board, have condemned Trump's pardons as an incitement of political violence on his behalf, and Auchincloss said that should be a defining message of Democratic opposition.
"This is going to be a defining message for the midterms, which is, who's Donald Trump working for?" Auchincloss said. "We saw in his inaugural address, he brings in people with a net worth of over $1 trillion collectively to sit in front of his cabinet. He's clearly working for them with his meme coin and his TikTok inside dealing, and he's working for the Jan. 6 rioters. We know that issuing blanket pardons and commutations that support cop beaters. Did he talk about lowering costs in that inaugural speech? What's his plan for housing costs, which are consuming 40 percent to 50 percent of wallet? What's his plan for health care costs, which employers now say is their number one concern?"
"This is about who is he working for," the congressman added. "Is he working for Jan. 6 cop beaters and the tech oligarchy? Or is he working for people who are trying to afford childcare?"
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