Sen. Elissa Slotkin delivered the Democratic rebuttal to President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday night.
Speaking from Wyandotte, Michigan, Slotkin acknowledged the desire of American voters for change.
“But there is a responsible way to make change, and a reckless way,” said the freshman senator. And that’s what her speech was about: thoughtful policies versus a trail of chaos and disaster.
Slotkin, who has been described as a pragmatist, was a CIA recruit who served in Iraq alongside the military. She also worked under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama before serving six years in the House.
In her speech, she criticized the Trump White House on their foreign policies and inflation, while also questioning Elon Musk’s involvement in the federal government.
Ukraine
The Michigan senator said the contentious meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week “wasn’t just a bad episode of reality TV.”
Trump prioritizes real estate transactions, even if it means “cozying up to dictators like Vladimir Putin and kicking our friends, like Canada, in the teeth,” Slotkin said.
She said that Trump “stole” President Ronald Reagan’s promise of “peace through strength,” before saying the late U.S. president must be rolling in his grave.
“As a Cold War kid, I’m thankful it was Reagan and not Trump in office in the 1980s. Trump would have lost us the Cold War,” said Slotkin.
Economy
Slotkin urged voters “to read the fine print” when it comes to the rising prices and inflation.
“Look, President Trump talked a big game on the economy, but it’s always important to read the fine print. So: Do his plans actually help Americans get ahead?” said the Michigan senator. “Grocery and home prices are going up, not down — and he hasn’t laid out a credible plan to deal with either.“
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., in a post on X, said Slotkin’s economic message to bring down the price of groceries, housing and health care has the power to band Democrats together.
“We need to make more things in America with good-paying, union jobs — and bring our supply chains back home from places like China," he said, adding American businesses need certainty as well as a tax system that doesn’t protect billionaires.
Elon Musk
She also criticized billionaire Elon Musk’s involvement in cutting government spending, which she said could lead to budget cuts in welfare programs like Social Security, Medicare and veterans benefits.
Republicans have denied these claims.
Of Musk, Slotkin said, “Is there anyone in America who is comfortable with him and his gang of 20-year-olds using their own computer servers to poke through your tax returns, your health information and your bank accounts?”
She also criticized the “mindless firing of people who work to protect our nuclear weapons, keep our planes from crashing and conduct the research that finds the cure for cancer — only to rehire them two days later?“
“No CEO in America could do that without being summarily fired,” Slotkin added.