In response to Donald Trump’s announcement that he would sign a three-week continuing resolution to reopen the government, People For the American Way Executive Vice President Marge Baker issued the following statement:
“This month-long government shutdown started because Donald Trump wanted to change the subject away from his corruption and collusion. It lasted 35 days because his allies in the Republican Party refused to stand up to his bigoted, pointless demand for a wall. Together, Trump and the GOP held hundreds of thousands of federal workers hostage to a campaign slogan—and they endangered the lives of millions more who depend on government to uphold its basic responsibility to ensure public safety.
“Ultimately, though, Trump’s total lack of concern for the well-being of ordinary, hardworking people became too transparent to ignore. Every billionaire cabinet member who brushed aside concerns about working families forced to stand in food lines and scramble for money to keep the lights on made it more obvious that neither Trump nor the GOP gives a damn about working people.
“Trump’s capitulation underscores something we’ve known for a long time: the way to deal with bullies is stand up to them. Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Democrats on Capitol Hill and the millions of activists and workers, who spoke out against Trump’s disastrous shutdown should be congratulated for standing strong. Speaker Pelosi in particular showed that Donald Trump didn’t know what he was up against when she took back the gavel. Together, we won this fight because we let Americans see, very clearly, exactly whose interests we’re fighting for.
“Trump’s threat today that he’d use emergency powers to fund his wall is a reminder that he’ll continue to use every tool at his disposal—whether or not it’s constitutional—to push his racist agenda. It’s critical that Democrats use all their power to stop him.”
People For the American Way is a progressive advocacy organization founded to fight right-wing extremism and defend constitutional values including free expression, religious liberty, equal justice under the law, and the right to meaningfully participate in our democracy.
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