Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said on Sunday that he took issue with the Democratic response in the chamber to President Donald Trump’s wide-ranging address to Congress last week.
"I think the lack of a coordinated response in the State of the Union was a mistake, and frankly, it took the focus off of where it should have been, which is on the fact that the president spoke for an hour and 40 minutes and had nothing to say about what he would do to bring down costs for American families that were watching that lengthy address sitting at the kitchen table, hoping that he would offer something to help them afford a new home or pay the rent to afford health care or child care," Schiff said on “This Week."
Democratic lawmakers participated in various protests during Trump’s speech. Some female members of Congress wore hot pink to show resistance. Other Democratic members held signs that called out Elon Musk. Some decided to boycott the speech or leave early.
Schiff refuted Democratic strategist James Carville's recent proposal in a New York Times op-ed that Democrats should “roll over and play dead” and wait for Republicans "to crumble beneath their own weight," with the California senator instead saying that the right approach is focusing on "the economic well-being of Americans."
"We need to have our own broad, bold agenda ... to answer really the central question which is, if you're working hard in America, can you still earn a good living?" said Schiff. "We need to be advancing policies and making the arguments about what we have to offer, not simply standing back and letting them collapse of our own corrupt weight. We need to effectively use litigation as we are. We need to effectively use communication to talk to new people in new ways as we are."
Schiff also expressed frustration and disapproval of Trump’s whiplash tariff agenda.
Trump on Tuesday imposed a 25% tariff on goods coming from Canada or Mexico. The following day, he issued a one-month delay for auto parts. By Friday, Trump signed an executive order that extended the delay to all products under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, USMCA, which is a free trade agreement signed during Trump’s first term. Roughly half of Mexican imports fall under USMCA and about 38% of imports from Canada fall under the agreement.
Schiff said that Democrats have to start responding to Trump’s tariffs and economic policies more effectively.
"This is deeply destructive, what they're doing," he said. "We need to make that case to the American people, because they're going to feel it. But, you know, taking our eye off the ball, I think, is very dangerous, and so let's be focused on what matters most to Americans. Let's point out all the destructive harms they're doing with you know, the cutting of services, the slashing of Medicaid, and what that's going to mean for increased health costs and less access for people."