Veronica Escobar in Vox Media
On Foreign Policy:
Puerto Rico still rebuilding after 2017 Hurricane Maria
Escobar [noted how] the president's rhetoric has targeted Latinos and immigrants more broadly. "In America, our diversity makes us stronger--it is what uplifts all voices and makes us an inclusive, dynamic country," she said in
Spanish. "Yet, the president clearly does not share this belief." She acknowledged Puerto Ricans' struggle to rebuild in the wake of Hurricane Maria in 2017. And she pointed out how Trump's immigration policies have harmed immigrants living in the
US, including so-called DREAMers, who may lose their legal status if the president's efforts to dismantle Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals prevails; immigrant families who were separated on the border; migrant children who have died in immigration
custody; and migrants who face dangerous conditions waiting in Mexico for their chance to seek asylum in the US. "These are policies none of us ever imagined would happen in America in our lifetime," she said.
Source: Vox.com on Democratic rebuttal to 2020 State of the Union
Feb 4, 2020
On Gun Control:
Hate speech stokes gun violence and mass shootings
Escobar has been a vocal critic of Trump's immigration rhetoric and policies sending asylum seekers back to Mexico, arguing that they have stoked the kind of hate that led to last year's shooting in El Paso, in which 22 people died. She invoked the same
argument in her rebuttal [to Trump's State of the Union speech], calling for legislation to ameliorate the gun violence epidemic and reiterated that the El Paso shooter used the "same hateful words" that Trump uses when referring to immigrants.
Source: Vox.com on Democratic rebuttal to 2020 State of the Union
Feb 4, 2020
On Heath Care:
Universal affordable health care
Escobar outlined the Democrats' stance on bread-and-butter election issues, including universal affordable health care and raising the federal minimum wage. It showed how the Democrats are trying to frame the issues voters care about most in terms that
appeal to Latinos, without predominantly focusing on immigration.The Spanish-language rebuttal is a relatively new tradition that started in 2011 in an effort to reach out to the 37 million Latinos living in the US who speak Spanish at home.
Source: Vox.com on Democratic rebuttal to 2020 State of the Union
Feb 4, 2020
On Immigration:
In America, diversity makes us stronger
Escobar outlined the Democrats' stance on bread-and-butter election issues, including universal affordable health care and raising the federal minimum wage. Escobar made specific appeals to her Latino audience, including how the president's rhetoric
has targeted Latinos and immigrants more broadly. "In America, our diversity makes us stronger--it is what uplifts all voices and makes us an inclusive, dynamic country," she said in Spanish. "Yet, the president clearly does not share this belief."
Source: Vox.com on Democratic rebuttal to 2020 State of the Union
Feb 4, 2020
On Jobs:
Raise the federal minimum wage
The Spanish-language rebuttal is a relatively new tradition that started in 2011 in an effort to reach out to the 37 million Latinos living in the US who speak Spanish at home.Escobar outlined the Democrats' stance on bread-and-butter election issues,
including universal affordable health care and raising the federal minimum wage. It showed how the Democrats are trying to frame the issues voters care about most in terms that appeal to Latinos, without predominantly focusing on the immigration debate.
Source: Vox.com on Democratic rebuttal to 2020 State of the Union
Feb 4, 2020
Page last updated: Dec 02, 2023