By RFD Radio
SPRINGFIELD – You probably didn’t expect U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin to give rave reviews to President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress.
Durbin took issue with the speech on a number of fronts, saying the President is offering big promises without any plans to achieve them. Durbin cited what he calls a lack of a concrete strategy to create jobs in America. Durbin is more stingy with praise when it comes to Trump’s order to the Department of Homeland Security to create an office called VOICE – Victims Of Immigration Crime Engagement.
“I thought that was completely out of line,” Durbin said. “The crime statistics make it clear the immigrants are less likely to commit crime and they are not a source of violent crime in this country.”
Durbin added the President’s crusade to repeal health care would throw tens of millions of people off the insurance rolls, plunge markets into chaos, and blow a massive hole in the deficit. Durbin also kept up the heat on the Russian front, noting Trump did not discuss Russia’s act of cyberwarfare against the US. Durbin says there’s growing evidence that shows the need for an independent investigation of possible Russian ties to the Trump campaign and claims of a cyberattack on last fall’s election.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth also panned the speech saying Trump “doubled down on the dark and dangerous rhetoric that has become a pillar of his fledgling Presidency.
“Despite initial indications, vague platitudes about a bipartisan infrastructure plan and promises to rein in unfair trade practices, the President’s remarks tonight were anything but unifying.”
