Democratic New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said during a Wednesday podcast that she struggles to back President Donald Trump’s “popular” ideas because she believes he is cruel.
Trump has championed policies with broad public support, including barring biological males from female sports, deporting illegal immigrants and cutting government waste. Gillibrand, on “On Brand with Donny Deutsch,” acknowledged the popularity of Trump’s agenda, but criticized his style, which she said was mean and “divisive.”
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“Interestingly, when he first ran last time, he ran on a lot of Democratic ideas. Like he ran on middle-class tax cuts and he ran on paid leave. He was much more of a Democrat then,” Gillibrand said. “And I feel like he got shut down on a lot of the bipartisan things he wanted to do in his first presidency by the Republicans around him. And he’s really leaned into this populism, which is, as is typical, populism is popular.”
“And what has been hardest for a lot of people like me to deal with is that he’s so disingenuous. He doesn’t mean it. And he says things that could be popular with everyone, but then does it in the meanest, most divisive way possible,” she continued. “And he just takes that oxygen out of the room every time. So it’s just disappointing. You want a president to be a president for all people and he keeps choosing not to be that guy.”
Former CNN political analyst Chris Cillizza said Wednesday that Trump’s Tuesday congressional address was potent in part because he took widely supported stances on issues.
“Time and time again, he created moments, he created drama, he created things that you could share and he did it around issues that are what I would call 80/20 issues — issues where 80% of the public agrees with him, 20% of the public disagrees,” Cillizza said.
For instance, he pointed to Trump highlighting 19-year-old Payton McNabb, who suffered a traumatic brain injury after a biological man spiked a volleyball into her head. McNabb was in the audience for Trump’s speech.
“Biological boys playing girls’ sports is an 80/20 issue, 80% of people — Democrats, Republicans, Independents — do not think biological males should be allowed to play,” Cillizza said.
He also said the president touting the Laken Riley Act was another instance of an “extremely popular” issue he raised during the address.
“So, this is a young 20-something girl who was murdered by an undocumented immigrant. Trump helped push that. It was the first law he signed into law as president,” he said. “This is extremely popular — 80/20. Democrats even voted for this in the Senate … Laken Riley’s sister and mom were there — very powerful.”
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