Sen. Chuck Schumer: "The speech and reality have never been more detached." pic.twitter.com/B7vKrhegx3
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 1, 2017
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) knocked President Trump’s first speech to Congress, arguing there’s a gap between the president’s rhetoric and his administration’s actions.
“The speech and reality have never been more detached in a presidential speech. It really doesn’t matter what he said. This is like the campaign, and he says one thing but as he governs it’s another,” the Senate’s top Democrat told MSNBC on Tuesday night.
He noted that while Trump talked about infrastructure, Democrats haven’t “heard a peep” from the White House about a proposal they rolled out earlier this year.
{mosads}Schumer also pointed to Trump’s rhetoric on a myriad of issues — including currency manipulation, education, his budget and his pledge to “drain the swamp” — as out of line with the early actions of the administration.
“His government is filled with, if you will, swamp creatures,” he added. “This speech, like his inauguration speech. … It’s sort of forgotten because everything he’s done has been different.”
Schumer argued that the “people are not looking for a speech” but want to know what the administration will accomplish.
GOP lawmakers have been quick to praise Trump’s first speech, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) telling CNN that Trump became “presidential.”
But Democrats are largely voicing skepticism about the president’s push for bipartisanship, arguing it doesn’t match Trump’s policies.
“President Trump’s speech had an air of unreality because what he said tonight was so different than how he has governed in the first 40 days,” Schumer said in a separate statement.