Washington, D.C.—People For the American Way released the following statement in response to President Trump’s State of the Union address:

Donald Trump’s State of the Union address was a disgrace. Once again, he misused the moment to divide, demonize, and deceive. He tried to divide us with race-baiting and xenophobia and he tried to demonize women for their most difficult medical choices. Both of those attacks fly in the face of the lived reality of millions of people in this country who are doing everything they can to build safe, productive lives with their families and communities. It’s shameful for the president to smear and attack those individuals in an effort to score political points.

Americans should reject Trump’s low attempts to deceive and terrorize them into rolling over for executive power grabs and giveaways for the rich. The people he should be here to serve deserve so much more.

Stacey Abrams, on the other hand, showed us exactly the kind of leadership we need. She put forward a vision of a vibrant and diverse union, a community made stronger by each person’s unique contributions and commitment to our common purpose. We applaud her focus on protecting every American’s right to vote with no exceptions She is right to point out the absolute necessity of fair-minded jurists on our courts, and we stand with her against Trump’s continued efforts to install cronies and narrow-minded elitists on the federal bench.

We also welcomed Xavier Becerra’s comments on the gross injustice of the GOP tax scam and Trump’s broken promises on health care. Americans understand that an administration that destroys protections for people with pre-existing conditions while lining corporate pockets through tax giveaways and the dismantling of consumer protections is not in any way on the side of workers and families.

We were shown two visions tonight: a broken America that works only for the rich and the powerful, or an America that lives up to its highest ideals, where everyone has a stake in our country’s future—and a right to a share in the promise.

Americans should choose the latter.