BY: ANNA LIZ NICHOLS
U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin used Democrats’ response to President Donald Trump’s congressional address Tuesday the way she campaigned into a swing state win: By seeking middle ground and urging people to get involved.
Slotkin, a freshman senator from Michigan called a “rising star” by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, represented a party still coming to grips with the blitz that has been the second Trump administration. She spoke from the city of Wyandotte, just south of Detroit and across the border from Canada, pointing out that she won there in November just like Trump.
“It might not seem like it, but plenty of places like this still exist across the United States,” Slotkin said. “Places where people believe that if you work hard, play by the rules, you should do well, and your kids should do better.”
But from the middle ground, Slotkin kept her 10-minute message focused on just how Trump’s rapid-fire transformation of the federal government during his first six weeks in office — raising tariffs on economic allies and unprecedented deportation operations, among the actions — will hurt the people who elected him.
Tuesday night’s speeches follow the start of Trump’s sweeping, 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada. Trump asserts the taxes on imported goods will bolster the economy, but economists warn they will ignite a trade war that forces Americans to pay higher prices for food, housing and vehicles – a particularly dour prediction in Michigan, home to the American auto industry.
The economy is not separated from a nation’s higher ideals, though, said Slotkin, who served three tours in Iraq as an analyst for the CIA, then worked in national security roles in both Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Barack Obama’s presidential administrations.
In her time working for the U.S. government in other countries, Slotkin said she’s seen democracies “flicker out” when a government is “rigged” towards leaders helping out their billionaire friends.
Immigrants, Slotkin said, are also an important part of the U.S. economy. Democrats want a secure border, too, but not the way Trump says the nation will achieve it.
“America is a nation of immigrants. We need a functional system keyed to the needs of our economy that allows vetted people to come and work here legally. So I look forward to the President’s plan on that,” Slotkin said.
In his marathon speech that lasted more than an hour-and-a-half, Trump touted his array of executive orders including his ban on transgender women and girls from competing in sports that match their gender, as well as his order to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion policies within the federal government.
The House floor was split in half as Trump’s Republican supporters rose from their seats and cheered as he rattled off the actions of his early days in office, and Democrats largely sat solemnly, holding signs decrying his speech as false.
Democracy is at risk when the president pits Americans against Americans, Slotkin said, when he “demonizes” individuals for being different and tells his followers some people should not be included.
“Generations have fought and died to secure the fundamental rights that define us. Those rights and the fight for them make us who we are. We’re a nation of strivers, risk takers, innovators, and we are never satisfied,” Slotkin said “That is America’s super power.”
Slotkin narrowly won her Senate seat in November against Republican and former Rep. Mike Rogers as the GOP was eager to fill the seat that former Democratic U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow had held since 2001 before retiring. Slotkin at 48 is the youngest Democratic woman elected to the U.S. Senate. She previously served three terms representing Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives starting in 2018 when she flipped a congressional district that had been historically Republican.
Ending her speech, she used that relative youth to engage in a time of constant connection on smart phones. Don’t doomscroll, she said, but get involved with a causes that motivate.
“Thank you tonight for caring about your country, just by watching you qualify as engaged citizens,” Slotkin said. “I promise that I and my fellow Democrats will do everything in our power to be the principled leaders that you deserve.”