During his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Donald Trump denounced socialism, citing its havoc wreaked on Venezuela, and vowed that the United States would never be a socialist county.
“We stand with the Venezuelan people in their noble quest for freedom — and we condemn the brutality of the Maduro regime, whose socialist policies have turned that nation from being the wealthiest in South America into a state of abject poverty and despair,” Trump said.
“Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country,” he continued. “America was founded on liberty and independence – not government coercion, domination and control. We are born free, and we will stay free.”
“Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a Socialist country,” Trump added.
President Trump takes a direct shot at socialism: “Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.” Sen. Bernie Sanders is seen frowning #SOTU https://t.co/EXZ8FU2DXV pic.twitter.com/WNNYm83eGD
— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 6, 2019
Trump’s comments sparked Republican applause, but Democrats were visibly unmoved in the House Chamber.
After Trump’s vow against socialism, the camera panned to a frowning Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders – a self-described Socialist who has been the herald of the modern day Socialist movement advocated by Democrats such as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
After the speech, both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez spoke out about Trump’s remarks.
“Trump said tonight, ‘We are born free, and we will stay free.’ I say to Trump: People are not truly free when they can’t afford health care, prescription drugs, or a place to live. People are not free when they cannot retire with dignity or feed their families,” Sanders tweeted.
Trump said tonight, “We are born free, and we will stay free.”
I say to Trump: People are not truly free when they can’t afford health care, prescription drugs, or a place to live. People are not free when they cannot retire with dignity or feed their families. #SOTU
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 6, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews that Trump attacked Venezuela and Socialism because he is “losing on the issues” and needed to “grasp at an ad hominem attack,” Real Clear Politics reported.
“What we need to realize is happening is this is an issue of authoritarian regime versus democracy. In order for him to try to dissuade or throw people off the scent of the trail, he has to really make and confuse the public. And I think that that’s exactly what he’s trying to do,” she added.
