Following Donald Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, respected Democratic leader and former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear will lay into Trump, calling him a “champion” of Wall Street who has already broken his promise “to be a champion for people struggling to make ends meet.”
Beshear is not just taking aim at the long list of billionaires and Wall Street executives now making up key parts of the new administration, but also the president’s actions to water down financial regulations meant to protect consumers and prevent another Great Recession.
The Democrat will go after one of Trump’s first actions as president, which was to cancel former President Obama’s mortgage premium cuts and make it harder for millions of Americans to buy a home.
Beshear will also accuse Trump of “eroding our democracy” by attacking the U.S. intelligence community and attacking the credibility of federal judges who rule against him.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
But the most likely reason Beshear was chosen to give the Democratic response is to offer his staunch support of the Affordable Care Act at a time when Republicans are grappling with how they can repeal the law – and when many Americans are voicing their concerns over losing the protections it has given them.
In the deeply red state of Kentucky, Beshear worked tirelessly to implement health care reform. Because of his work, the state saw the largest drop in the uninsured rate, from 20.4 percent to 7.8 percent, according to Gallup.
While Republicans work to repeal the law and kick millions off of their health insurance, Beshear and Democrats hope to make Kentucky – a red state where the law has been hugely successful – ground zero in the health care fight.
At a time when many Americans are deeply concerned about the man in the Oval Office, the Democrats will use their first rebuttal speech to go hard after the unpopular president.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
