TRANSCRIPT: Ahead Of The State Of The Union, Leader Schumer And Senate Democrats Highlight The Hallmarks Of Trump’s First Year Back: Costs, Chaos, And Corruption

Washington, D.C. - Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Senator Rueben Gallego (D-AZ), held a press conference ahead of Trump's State of the Union to highlight Trump's disastrous first year back in office, which has seen rising costs for American families, ICE terrorizing communities, rampant corruption, and more. Below are Senator Schumer's remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Look, let me start with something all of us are thinking. Tonight is going to be long, painful, and tedious for the American people. We know how tonight works. Trump will claim that everything in America is going great. He's in a huge bubble. America is deeply unhappy with Trump's leadership. And he'll blame everyone else for our country's troubles. He'll blame Biden. He'll blame the Supreme Court. He'll point the finger at everyone but himself. But tonight, the American people will see a President whose ego does not let him see reality. The reality of the pain in America because of Trump's policies. Costs, chaos, corruption is what they lead to. Never in our lifetime have we gone into a State of the Union where the president's rhetoric and the country's reality are so far apart. Donald Trump's first year back in office can be boiled down to three words: costs, chaos, corruption. That's the slogan of Trump 2.0: costs, chaos, corruption. That's what his administration brings to the American people.

Let's start with costs. Americans frankly don't care what Trump has to say at the State of the Union because they're too worried about the state of their wallets. They're worried about the state of their rent, the state of their energy bills, the state of their health care costs. Democrats offer something different, a future with lower costs, and it's why a few weeks ago we rolled out a housing agenda to help people afford a home and rent. It's why in a few weeks, led by Ben Ray Lujan, we're going to talk about food costs, especially the price of beef. And Democrats will release new plans in the weeks and months to come to lower the cost of childcare, health care, energy, and so much more.

Americans are tired of the chaos. They're tired of masked agents barging into people's homes without warrants. That's not law and order. That's chaos. The American people see it. But sadly, the chaos does not end there. Look at the mess Donald Trump has created with his tariffs. He said, "to hell with you," and doubled down on his tariffs after the Supreme Court struck him down. "To hell with the American people and their costs." He had a moment to escape this noose around his neck, the tariffs he proposed, but he doubled down and went right back at them.

And finally, we've never had a President as corrupt and as crooked as Trump. While people are paying more for rent and losing insurance, Trump's net worth has soared by at least a billion dollars since becoming president. He wants to make himself the richest man in America, and it's with your money, Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer. That's how he's doing it. We won't get any answers to these things. And one more aspect of corruption, while he'll talk for a long time tonight, we know there's one topic Trump will avoid. When will he finally release all the Epstein files? Another example of the corruption of this administration.

Democrats offer Americans something better, a future with lower costs and greater optimism. And finally, I want to thank my good friend, Senator Padilla, who will offer a Spanish response to the State of the Union. Senator Padilla is going to tell Americans the story they deserve to hear, one of hope, one of opportunity, where we celebrate the values that make us great. Donald Trump's not focused on tackling costs. He and his cronies seem to be more focused on tackling Senators. Instead of driving down costs, he's driving over people's pocketbooks. So tonight, Americans aren't going to get the real State of the Union. Those days are long gone under Trump. What Americans will get is a state of deception, a state of denial.

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