Chairman Aguilar: Trump and Republicans have made it abundantly clear where their priorities are, and it's not with the American people.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and Vice Chair Ted Lieu held a press conference calling on Trump and Republicans to end the war in Iran and instead focus on the cost of living crisis that is hurting Americans at home. You can watch the full press conference here and read the transcript below.
CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back. It’s going to be a busy week and a busy session. Right before we adjourned, we saw the failure of Republican leadership on full display, and their infighting reaching new heights. As a result, Americans across this country have been paying higher prices. It's because of Republican incompetence that federal workers have been going without paychecks, farmers can no longer afford fertilizer to grow our food and families can't afford to fill up their gas tanks. And today, as Americans file their taxes, many say that they're paying more than ever while the top 1 percent gets a tax cut. This is because Speaker Johnson and House Republicans would rather put their efforts into supporting an unhinged President's reckless war of choice with Iran and helping out their billionaire friends with their policies and betting market tips.
Since taking office, Trump and Republicans have made it abundantly clear where their priorities are, and it's not with the American people. If they cared at all about the people that elected them, they would actually work with Democrats to make life better for people back at home and less expensive. Republicans have the opportunity to do just that this week. In the coming days, Democrats will force a vote on the War Powers Resolution to hold the Trump administration accountable and to put an end to this costly Middle East conflict. Americans overwhelmingly want to see an immediate end to this war, yet the Trump administration keeps digging us in even deeper. Hardworking families are watching as the Trump administration spends billions to bomb Iran, yet they can't seem to find any funding for health care, housing or food for hungry children. If Republicans can't condemn this war, the American people will remember that, and House Democrats won't let them forget. Vice Chair Ted Lieu.
VICE CHAIR LIEU: Thank you, Chairman Aguilar. We have a cost of living emergency. Inflation is skyrocketing. The most recent CPI report, the Consumer Price Index, shows that inflation surged to 3.3 percent—the highest monthly increase in over two years. And then the recent Producer Price Index report, the PPI report, shows that inflation increased 0.5 percent month to month, and 4 percent year to year. And what is Trump focused on? Attacking the pope. We call on Republicans and Donald Trump to focus on the cost of living emergency and to stop doing stupid stuff like attacking the pope.
Now, I happen to be Catholic. I chose to get baptized in college. Turns out, when you do that, you have to take a whole series of courses on the Bible. And it's very clear that when you look at the Bible, there's a lot of themes, but two of them are that you do not have false idols, and second, you do not mock God. And so Exodus 20:3-5 says, ‘You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.’ In addition to attacking the pope, Donald Trump posted an image of himself like Jesus. He should not be making a false idol of himself. No one should be worshiping Donald Trump. He needs to apologize for that deeply offensive post. And then you got JD Vance going around, who just lies like water. So he just lies all the time. And so when asked about Donald Trump's Jesus post, JD Vance says, oh, that was a joke. Well, let’s see what the Bible says about that. Galatians 6:7 says, ‘Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.’ So Donald Trump is going to reap what he sows. And again, Trump needs to apologize for his deeply offensive image that is very offensive to many Christians and Catholics in the United States. Thanks.
###
Previous Article