AFT President Randi Weingarten on President Trump’s Address

WASHINGTON—Statement of American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten following President Trump’s nationwide address tonight:

“President Trump’s speech can be summed up in four words: dehumanizing people, fearmongering and lies.

“One cannot talk about the border crisis in this country without recalling the haunting images of caged children, many of whom are still separated from their parents at the Southern border. One cannot talk about a humanitarian crisis in this country without identifying with the millions of people harmed by Trump’s government shutdown, including the 800,000 government employees locked out of their jobs. 

“If President Trump cared about the safety and security of this country, he’d reopen the government and negotiate with Congress as every other president has done in the history of the United States. He’d use an Oval Office address to bring the country together—not to manufacture a crisis or to tell lies about refugees seeking safety or to stage a fundraising stunt for his re-election campaign, as he did tonight.”