Democrat Elissa Slotkin responds to Trump's speech: "Reagan must be rolling in his grave"

Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin was the Democratic Party's pick to deliver the official response to Trump´s first address to Congress. Slotkin wanted to mark contrasts from the very length of the address: compared to Trump's hour and a half, the congresswoman promised to "be a lot shorter," extending just over 10 minutes.

In the first months of her first term, Slotkin spent the first few minutes introducing herself: "I won't take it personally if you've never heard of me." Born in New York and raised in Michigan, she was a former CIA analyst. She is the youngest Democrat elected to the Senate (48 years old), winning a tight race in a state her party lost in the presidential election. "A rising star in our party," in the words of Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Her speech aimed to be a bipartisan appeal—directed at voters beyond party lines. She sought to present herself as a symbol of unity over partisanship, highlighting the contested district she won, her experience working for both Bush and Obama, and even her own family’s makeup (a Republican father and a Democratic mother): "We had shared values that were bigger than any party."

The Democrats are testing a message that will bring them back to the center, in the eyes of the Democratic or undecided American, and even Republican, who returned Trump to the White House. To that end, she outlined three shared national values: "the middle class is the engine of our country," "A strong national security protects us from harm," and "our democracy, no matter how messy, is unparalleled and worth fighting for."

In favor of cuts, but against Musk

On the economic front, Slotkin listed goals to "expand and protect the middle class": lower prices, encourage domestic production, relocate supply chains "from places like China" back to the United States. Promises, all, from the Trump campaign during the election.

"President Trump is trying to deliver an unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friends," she spat, asserting that the Republican wants to pass "trillions of dollars" to the wealthiest that will come at a cost to ordinary Americans. His policies, she asserted, will raise prices and the national debt.

There was no shortage of words against Elon Musk and the team he leads, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE): "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 said, alluding to the DOGE's desire to obtain Treasury data.

In another concession to the Administration, she conceded that it was right to seek a more efficient state, but asserted that the change "doesn’t need to be chaotic or make us less safe." Continuing on that path, she criticized "mindless" layoffs and rehiring of employees in areas such as nuclear weapons, air traffic control and cancer research.

'Fixing our broken immigration system'

"Every country deserves to know who and what is coming across its border," she asserted. "Period."

After making the Republican banner of border security his own, he said he could not be assured without "fixing our broken immigration system" so that anyone who wanted to enter legally to work could do so. "I look forward for the presidents plan on that."

For both immigration and several other current issues, such as terrorism and artificial intelligence, she felt it was necessary to have "friends on all corners." She appealed, then, to the Reagan Republicans assuring that the late former president would be "rolling in his grave" over the tense summit between Trump and Zelensky in Washington.

Trump, a "risk" to democracy

"Trump would have lost us the Cold War," she said in a sentence that seemed dedicated to the president's ears, after assuring that he lacked moral clarity: "He believes in cozying up to dictators like Vladimir Putin and kicking our friends like the Canadians in the teeth."

Democracy is at risk." The threat, she argued, is Donald Trump. She accused him of endangering the democratic system by "choosing which rules to follow," "ignoring court rulings and the Constitution," and "pitting Americans against each other."

In response to this risk, she insisted that the solution was to "stay engaged," hold elected officials accountable, and take action: "Join a group that cares about an issue and get involved—and if you can't find one, start your own."

"I promise that I and my fellow democrats will do everything in our power to be the principled leaders that you deserve," she closed.

'A Reign of Terror' for Hispanic Communities

Responsible for the Spanish-language retort was Adriano Espaillat, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The American-Dominican from New York accused Trump, bluntly, of "acting more like a king" rather than a president.

Using phrases that are becoming Democratic favorites, she accused the president of threatening to cut Medicaid and Medicare and failing to curb inflation. "Trump wants to be the neighborhood tough guy," she said, "without caring how these measures will affect prices at the grocery store, the corner shop, or when we buy appliances."

Like Slotkin, she took aim at the DOGE cuts and the government's tax measures, which she accused them of wanting to benefit millionaire friends.

On immigration measures, one of the most anticipated points of his speech, he said that Trump wanted to "create a reign of terror that negatively impacts the local economy."

He is not, he assured, only deporting criminals, "who really should be deported." He mentioned the alleged case of a U.S. citizen detained by ICE despite having documents: "What happened to my neighbor can happen to all of us: to citizens, to legal residents, to any migrant, to our families and friends."

Also like Slotkin, he said he wanted to "secure the border," but added that at the same time he wanted to protect workers and "keep our families together."

"We are 65 million," he said of the Hispanic community in the United States. "We are all here to fight for the American dream and we are not going to allow someone who thinks he is a king and his court of buffoons to dismantle the democracy we built for the last 250 years."