“Donald Trump tried to ban the press to protect his own image, and a judge rightly blocked it. He is being too soft on China's leader, and his corrupt deals with oil billionaires are driving up energy and healthcare bills for normal families. Worst of all, he started a war with Iran without Congress that has killed at least 19 American troops and pushed gas prices to $4.50 a gallon. Senate Democrats will soon force a vote to end this war and bring our troops home.”
“Mr. President, on the Trump media ban, you can tell Trump’s desperate, repressive media ban is flagrantly unconstitutional when it gets blocked by a judge he appointed. Trump can attack the First Amendment all he wants, but the roots of our democracy run deeper than he could ever fathom. No President should be able to use censorship to escape accountability, to deprive Americans of the truth, and to take our country down the path to authoritarianism. Is Trump so fragile, so thin-skinned, so desperate that he can’t handle reporting that reflects the truth that he doesn’t want to hear? If Trump’s Presidency and economy are going as well as he claims they are, then he should have nothing to fear from the cameras. We all know what this media ban was about. Trump himself told the real truth when he said he was trying to protect his reputation with this ban. To protect his reputation--can you believe it? The chutzpah of a President to say, ``I am going to shut down the media because I don’t like what they are saying,’’ when he knows that 250 grand years of freedom of speech has been the hallmark of this country. Of course, his statements were so out of line--and even his supporters criticized it--that Trump had to backtrack by trying to label these news outlets a so-called ``national security risk.’’ No one bought that excuse for a second. The only thing Trump was trying to defend was himself. Trump knows he is in rough shape. He knows the American people are furious with him and his party. He knows just how much of a disaster his record is. And since Trump can’t clean up his mess, he tries to sweep it under the rug, and he failed miserably. Trump can’t outrun the press, and he can’t outrun his record. You hear that, Donald? You can’t outrun the press, and you can’t outrun your miserable record. Mr. President, on the Xi Jinping visit, Trump’s soft-handed treatment of the Chinese Communist Party is on full display this week during Xi Jinping’s visit. No sooner had Xi landed yesterday, than the Trump administration announced it is extending its trade relief to China for another 2 months. Really? Trump ought to take that trade war truce up north to Canada, instead of giving it to China and Xi and his authoritarian regime. As usual, Trump acts based solely on who flatters him at the moment, where the nearest photo-op is, and what headline he covers. If you are foreign or authoritarian, Trump just won’t invite you to America; he will greet you planeside. That is what Trump did, sort of as a supplicant for Xi yesterday. That is what Trump did for Putin in Alaska last year. This man has an atavistic attraction to dictators, to bad people. Something is so wrong up there with him. And now Trump and Rubio want to roll out the red carpet for Putin again at the G20 in Florida this year. Trump needs to finally show some backbone. America can’t afford for Trump to roll over on blocking China’s access to our advanced AI tech, stopping the flow of fentanyl, protecting oil workers, strengthening American innovation, and holding the CCP accountable for aiding our adversaries or any of the other pressing issues we face with the PRC. Meeting an authoritarian at the bottom of the stairs is easy. Standing up to them at the negotiating table is the hard part. So far, Trump hasn’t managed it. Mr. President, on the Iran war, as Trump tries to tread water as his disastrous war with Iran gets worse by the day, the American people are drowning in costs. Gas is nearly $4.50 a gallon, and diesel is still breaking highs at $6.51 a gallon because of Trump’s war. It is madness. Americans are getting crushed at the gas pumps. Working families are getting cleaned out at the grocery store counters. And family farms are going under because Trump took this country to war without authorization, without a plan, without a second thought to the consequences. We have lost at least 19 brave servicemembers. Hundreds are wounded or maimed, and tens of thousands remain in harm’s way. That is just what we know, since this administration keeps withholding information from Congress and the American people about the true number of casualties in this war. All the while, Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz and other key chokepoints has grown tighter, and the entire situation in the Middle East has gotten worse. Trump’s war has been one of the biggest foreign policy catastrophes in the history of this country. And, of course, as I said, the price of gasoline and the price of diesel keep going up. From the start, I have said this war is bigger than politics, and Senate Republicans--if they knew what was good for them--would have joined us in pushing for an end to Trump’s war 7 months ago. Well, Senate Democrats will force a vote on another War Powers Resolution to end Trump’s disastrous war and bring our troops home, at last, very soon. Americans will remember who votes to end Trump’s war today just as they will remember who voted for the war to continue, time and time and time again, for 7 long months. Mr. President, and on the Trump Big Oil corruption report, Donald Trump’s flagrant corruption costs the American people dearly every single day. We all know that. Just this morning, I joined Senator Whitehouse to unveil our Anti- corruption Working Group’s staggering new report on how Trump’s corrupt dealings with Big Oil billionaires are costing the American people a fortune. It is a tale as old as time in Trump’s America. In 2024, this then was brazen. I knew we were headed for trouble when I saw it back then in the papers, because in 2024 Trump invited Harold Hamm and all those Big Oil guys down to Mar-a-Lago and asked them for a $1 billion--$1 billion--for his campaign in exchange for political favors to boost their bottom line. It was appalling then--pay-to-play--and openly done, bragging boldly. I mean, that shows these people have no shame. They have no worries about the strictures of democracy, of morality, of what America has always been all about. No, they brag about it: We will give you $1 billion. Help our oil companies, ho ho ho. But the American people paid the price. Big Oil paid up and, boy, did Donald Trump deliver. Trump blocked clean energy projects that would have brought down families’ energy costs and powered millions of homes. The administration shut down the cheapest and fastest source of energy to build and get--the cheapest source of energy, the fastest source; it is the one that goes quickest on the grid--just so billionaires, Big Oil billionaires, could get even richer. Many of the same people making these policies are profiting off them. Trump appointed numerous fossil fuel industry leaders to his administration. Trump’s corruption is not a victimless crime; it never is. Every time Americans see the skyrocketing costs on their electric bill or at the gas station, they know who to blame: Donald Trump and his Big Oil billionaire cronies. Trump’s greed isn’t just costing Americans more for energy; it is costing them their health. A report found that the pollution from Trump’s Big Oil blitz is driving up Americans’ healthcare costs too. I want to salute Sheldon Whitehouse, who had a strong hand in putting together this report. He has been steadfast, brilliant, and hard-nosed on fighting this corruption, and I salute him again. Americans--all Americans--should salute him for his efforts. Trump may think he can hide his corruption in the shadows, but we, Democrats in the Senate, will continue turning over every rock to expose how his greed is costing the American people. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.”
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Speech in the House
Respect 94 of 100
This statement targeted a person rather than their actions or views: “This man has an atavistic attraction to dictators, to bad people”.
See full analysis
Mr. President, on the Trump media ban, you can tell Trump’s desperate, repressive media ban is flagrantly unconstitutional when it gets blocked by a judge he appointed. Trump can attack the First Amendment all he wants, but the roots of our democracy run deeper than he could ever fathom. No President should be able to use censorship to escape accountability, to deprive Americans of the truth, and to take our country down the path to authoritarianism. Is Trump so fragile, so thin-skinned, so desperate that he can’t handle reporting that reflects the truth that he doesn’t want to hear? If Trump’s Presidency and economy are going as well as he claims they are, then he should have nothing to fear from the cameras. We all know what this media ban was about. Trump himself told the real truth when he said he was trying to protect his reputation with this ban. To protect his reputation--can you believe it? The chutzpah of a President to say, ``I am going to shut down the media because I don’t like what they are saying,’’ when he knows that 250 grand years of freedom of speech has been the hallmark of this country. Of course, his statements were so out of line--and even his supporters criticized it--that Trump had to backtrack by trying to label these news outlets a so-called ``national security risk.’’ No one bought that excuse for a second. The only thing Trump was trying to defend was himself. Trump knows he is in rough shape. He knows the American people are furious with him and his party. He knows just how much of a disaster his record is. And since Trump can’t clean up his mess, he tries to sweep it under the rug, and he failed miserably. Trump can’t outrun the press, and he can’t outrun his record. You hear that, Donald? You can’t outrun the press, and you can’t outrun your miserable record. Mr. President, on the Xi Jinping visit, Trump’s soft-handed treatment of the Chinese Communist Party is on full display this week during Xi Jinping’s visit. No sooner had Xi landed yesterday, than the Trump administration announced it is extending its trade relief to China for another 2 months. Really? Trump ought to take that trade war truce up north to Canada, instead of giving it to China and Xi and his authoritarian regime. As usual, Trump acts based solely on who flatters him at the moment, where the nearest photo-op is, and what headline he covers. If you are foreign or authoritarian, Trump just won’t invite you to America; he will greet you planeside. That is what Trump did, sort of as a supplicant for Xi yesterday. That is what Trump did for Putin in Alaska last year. This man has an atavistic attraction to dictators, to bad people. Something is so wrong up there with him. And now Trump and Rubio want to roll out the red carpet for Putin again at the G20 in Florida this year. Trump needs to finally show some backbone. America can’t afford for Trump to roll over on blocking China’s access to our advanced AI tech, stopping the flow of fentanyl, protecting oil workers, strengthening American innovation, and holding the CCP accountable for aiding our adversaries or any of the other pressing issues we face with the PRC. Meeting an authoritarian at the bottom of the stairs is easy. Standing up to them at the negotiating table is the hard part. So far, Trump hasn’t managed it. Mr. President, on the Iran war, as Trump tries to tread water as his disastrous war with Iran gets worse by the day, the American people are drowning in costs. Gas is nearly $4.50 a gallon, and diesel is still breaking highs at $6.51 a gallon because of Trump’s war. It is madness. Americans are getting crushed at the gas pumps. Working families are getting cleaned out at the grocery store counters. And family farms are going under because Trump took this country to war without authorization, without a plan, without a second thought to the consequences. We have lost at least 19 brave servicemembers. Hundreds are wounded or maimed, and tens of thousands remain in harm’s way. That is just what we know, since this administration keeps withholding information from Congress and the American people about the true number of casualties in this war. All the while, Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz and other key chokepoints has grown tighter, and the entire situation in the Middle East has gotten worse. Trump’s war has been one of the biggest foreign policy catastrophes in the history of this country. And, of course, as I said, the price of gasoline and the price of diesel keep going up. From the start, I have said this war is bigger than politics, and Senate Republicans--if they knew what was good for them--would have joined us in pushing for an end to Trump’s war 7 months ago. Well, Senate Democrats will force a vote on another War Powers Resolution to end Trump’s disastrous war and bring our troops home, at last, very soon. Americans will remember who votes to end Trump’s war today just as they will remember who voted for the war to continue, time and time and time again, for 7 long months. Mr. President, and on the Trump Big Oil corruption report, Donald Trump’s flagrant corruption costs the American people dearly every single day. We all know that. Just this morning, I joined Senator Whitehouse to unveil our Anti- corruption Working Group’s staggering new report on how Trump’s corrupt dealings with Big Oil billionaires are costing the American people a fortune. It is a tale as old as time in Trump’s America. In 2024, this then was brazen. I knew we were headed for trouble when I saw it back then in the papers, because in 2024 Trump invited Harold Hamm and all those Big Oil guys down to Mar-a-Lago and asked them for a $1 billion--$1 billion--for his campaign in exchange for political favors to boost their bottom line. It was appalling then--pay-to-play--and openly done, bragging boldly. I mean, that shows these people have no shame. They have no worries about the strictures of democracy, of morality, of what America has always been all about. No, they brag about it: We will give you $1 billion. Help our oil companies, ho ho ho. But the American people paid the price. Big Oil paid up and, boy, did Donald Trump deliver. Trump blocked clean energy projects that would have brought down families’ energy costs and powered millions of homes. The administration shut down the cheapest and fastest source of energy to build and get--the cheapest source of energy, the fastest source; it is the one that goes quickest on the grid--just so billionaires, Big Oil billionaires, could get even richer. Many of the same people making these policies are profiting off them. Trump appointed numerous fossil fuel industry leaders to his administration. Trump’s corruption is not a victimless crime; it never is. Every time Americans see the skyrocketing costs on their electric bill or at the gas station, they know who to blame: Donald Trump and his Big Oil billionaire cronies. Trump’s greed isn’t just costing Americans more for energy; it is costing them their health. A report found that the pollution from Trump’s Big Oil blitz is driving up Americans’ healthcare costs too. I want to salute Sheldon Whitehouse, who had a strong hand in putting together this report. He has been steadfast, brilliant, and hard-nosed on fighting this corruption, and I salute him again. Americans--all Americans--should salute him for his efforts. Trump may think he can hide his corruption in the shadows, but we, Democrats in the Senate, will continue turning over every rock to expose how his greed is costing the American people. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.