Steve Beshear has just wrapped up the Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s address to Congress.
During his response, Beshear said that he is worried about the future of the nation, saying that this feeling is not a partisan one. He said that Trump promised to be a champion for working families during his campaign, but he expressed skepticism that Trump will live up to that promise.
“Folks here in Kentucky expect you to keep your word, because this isn’t a game,” Beshear said. “It’s life or death for people.”
Beshear focused heavily on the Affordable Care Act during his response, describing the experience of Americans in the system before Obamacare was passed and saying that Democrats will make sure Trump’s administration doesn’t renege on the promise that was made to citizens when the law was passed in 2010.
He went on to say that the president “can and should enforce immigration laws” but that he can do this without tearing families apart and without sending away millions of refugees. He quoted President Ronald Reagan, who once said that “In America, our origins matter less than our destination.”
Beshear also said that Trump is “eroding our democracy” by trying to undermine the court system. He concluded by saying that Americans are a diverse people but that they always come together to fight for the nation’s principles.
Steve Beshear is the former governor of Kentucky who served from 2007 through 2015. In an interview with CNN on Tuesday night, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that Beshear was chosen to give the response because he “makes one of the best cases why we should keep the [Affordable Care Act]” and because he comes from a working class background.