Maryland Sen. Angela Alsobrooks and House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar didn’t go to the Capitol steps last week to be polite. They went to hold someone accountable.
At a press event organized by House and Senate Democrats on May 21, both lawmakers stepped to the podium and delivered what may have been the sharpest, most unfiltered takedown of the Trump administration’s corruption yet — tying the White House’s self-dealing directly to the kitchen table struggles of working Americans who can’t make their bills add up anymore.
Alsobrooks opened with a confession she said President Donald Trump had finally made in plain sight.
“The president has finally said the quiet part out loud. When questioned about the financial well-being of Americans, he responded and I quote ‘I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation.’ He could give a rat’s ass about the American people or about our rising costs,” Alsobrooks said.
She then connected Trump’s personal enrichment to the affordability crisis suffocating American families and the imagery she used landed like a gut punch.
“Over the last year, the president and this administration have engaged in a tremendous smash and grab … enriching themselves, enriching his family, enriching his allies. They have loot hanging all out of their pockets.”
Aguilar picked up right where Alsobrooks left off, pointing directly at the broken promises Republicans made to voters before taking full control of Congress and the White House.
“Americans were promised lower costs on day one,” the California Democrat said. “They were promised lower inflation. They were promised lower utility bills. And what have Republicans delivered? The highest gas prices and inflation in years. Multiple new wars, massive cuts to health care and food assistance, and now $70 billion in taxpayer dollars to an out of control ICE.”
He brought the human cost of that failure home with the story of his constituent Martin Rascon — a U.S. citizen whose car was fired upon by masked federal agents during an unlawful stop that left his entire family traumatized.
Both lawmakers closed with the same message that Democrats haven’t forgotten who they work for, and Republicans are about to find out what that means at the ballot box.
“Whether it’s today, tomorrow, next month or next year … we will not stop fighting to drive down costs and ease the burdens weighing on American families,” Alsobrooks declared.
