Rep. Tim Kennedy (D-NY) slams President Trump’s State of the Union as "division, hate, lies," citing $250B in allegedly illegal tariffs that hiked costs for groceries, utilities, and healthcare while straining U.S.-Canada trade ($1.3T annually). He opposes ICE funding without accountability, accusing the agency of killing two Americans and terrorizing communities. Rep. Sulha Subramanyam (D-VA) echoes his critique, calling Trump’s speech a "humiliation tactic" toward Democrats, especially on sanctuary cities, while dismissing his economic claims as exclusionary. Both highlight policy failures amid rising prices, questioning whether Trump’s rhetoric masks deeper systemic neglect. [Automatically generated summary]
I was excited when I had my small business during the first Trump administration just looking at the tax policy.
But right now there's hope.
There's hope for small businesses.
We want people to earn more.
We want businesses to do better.
That is the engine of our economy, but with the great tax policy, but also reducing regulations so that the government gets out of the way, lets job creators do what they need to do and to really grow our economy.
So we're doing all the right things.
We have the right policies.
And I'm looking forward to keeping this momentum throughout this next year.
Wisconsin Republican Tony We joining us as far as reaction to the State of the Union Representative, thanks for your time.
Thank you.
We're getting reaction to the State of the Union from members of Congress, Representative Tim Kennedy, Democrat from New York, member of the Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs Committees, serves the 26th District of New York.
Representative Kennedy, good morning.
Morning, Pedro.
What was the takeaway from last night?
Well, unfortunately, it was exactly what we expected.
More division, more hate, more lies from the President of the United States in a time where we are looking for unifying our country and moving our country forward.
This president continued his consistent lies to the American people.
And it's unfortunate that my congressional Republican colleagues just totally embraced all of that hate.
And so, you know, we're looking for better days ahead.
You know, when we're talking about what the American people are suffering through right now, this affordability crisis brought on by President Trump and congressional Republicans' failed policies over the last year.
I believe this president totally missed the mark in this speech last night.
How would you identify some of the lies or what lies specifically stands out according to your mind?
Well, I mean, the president stood there in front of the world last night and said that the cost of living across this great nation is becoming more affordable.
Everyone knows that's just not true.
The cost of groceries have gone up.
The cost of utilities have gone up.
The cost of rent and housing has gone up.
The cost of health care has skyrocketed.
And then the president doubled down on his tariffs that have driven up costs for the American people.
Trump's tariff tax that was just ruled unconstitutional by his own hand-picked Supreme Court justices.
And then what does he do?
He puts in new tariffs just to inflict more financial pain upon the American people.
And then he tries to tell the American people, while he's kicking millions of people off of their health insurance and kicking millions of people off of nutritional assistance, that their lives are better, that their health care is better.
It's just totally unfounded and preposterous.
And the American people are smarter than what this president thinks they are.
He thinks the American people bought his nonsense last night.
And I have news for him.
They certainly did not.
When you were in the chamber, there was that portion where the president asked those standing up when it comes to this idea of sanctuary cities and immigration, what was your position and how did you react to that?
The president thought that this was theater last night.
To him it was.
This was a show for him.
Stand up, sit down.
One of your callers was just mentioning the Republicans, you know, they couldn't help themselves jumping out of their seat, hanging on every word that he said.
It was embarrassing to watch what the Republicans were doing left and right.
I mean, I had colleagues of mine on the other side of the aisle last night telling me how tired their legs were from standing up and sitting down.
It was outrageous.
The bottom line is the American people are hurting right now.
And they are hurting.
They're having difficulty paying the bills.
They're having difficulty putting food on the table.
And they're having difficulty affording health care because it's been decimated by this president and congressional Republicans.
And what did they do last night?
They took a victory lap for the chaos and the dysfunction that they have perpetuated upon the American people.
And so we weren't going to participate in this president's performative nonsense.
Do you think there's potential political damage from that video of Democrats not standing up?
Do you think that plays out going into midterms as well?
They're going to try to make it political.
They're going to try to make it theatrical.
They're going to try to tell that is the story for the American people.
The American people are smarter than what Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are trying to sell to them right now.
People know firsthand that working families in this country that are struggling to pay the bills are dealing with an affordability crisis that is of generational proportions.
At the same time, billionaires in this country, because of the failed policies of Trump and congressional Republicans, are making out just fine.
So there is a huge divide between working-class citizens in this country and the billionaire class.
And it's Donald Trump and Republicans that are supporting the billionaires and the super ultra-wealthy in this country.
And it's Democrats that are standing up for working families.
Some of the cities that you serve are Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Amherst.
You're part of something called the Northern Border Caucus.
Take that and talk about what the president said last night when it comes to tariffs.
You mentioned the Supreme Court decision, but when it comes to the future of tariff policy, particularly how does that affect for those you serve?
Well, first of all, these Trump tariffs are inflicting more financial pain across the United States.
Over $250 billion has been taken illegally out of the pockets of consumers in this country because of these illegal tariffs that the Supreme Court has just ruled unconstitutional.
Again, what does Donald Trump do?
He doubles down and he puts more tariffs on the American people.
The bottom line is this.
Whether you're on a northern border like myself or in the interior of the United States, East Coast, West Coast, the Trump tariffs have inflicted financial pain and have driven up the cost of living across the board.
And the bottom line is, while the Supreme Court has ruled them unconstitutional, he ought to listen to his own hand-picked Supreme Court.
You've got to listen to the American people rescind these tariffs that are hurting the public here in the United States, that are hurting our relationships with our greatest allies and trading partners across the globe,
that are saying that these tariffs are hurting the relationships that have been built by generations of Americans and by administration after administration for over 100 years that have dealt with the economy across the globe.
in order to create prosperity for the American people.
The tariffs are hurting the people in this country and this president ought to rescind them entirely right now.
I imagine being on the border of Canada, that gives you a certain aspect as well.
Yeah, yeah, in the Buffalo and Western New York region, I have four bridges into Canada in my district, and we are hurt uniquely.
There are tens of thousands of jobs that are supported in the United States by our Canadian partners.
You know, there's $1.3 trillion worth of goods and services that cross the Canadian border.
It's the largest border, contiguous border in the entire world, 5,000 miles between the United States and Canada.
Our greatest ally, our greatest trade partner.
And what does this president do?
He attacks them.
He attacks them with tariffs.
He attacks them with his hateful, divisive, negative rhetoric.
And he has driven Canadians away from visiting our country, coming over to the Western New York region, coming into the interior of the United States, going to Florida, going to California, going to the great tourist destinations.
They're making decisions.
Our great friends and neighbors in Canada, we love you.
We want you to come visit our great country.
We are your friends.
We are your partners.
And we are your allies.
So don't listen to this president in the negativity because you've got a hell of a lot more friends here in the United States than you have people like Donald Trump trying to drive a wedge between us.
Before we let you go, you are a member of the Homeland Security Committee.
What is your perspective on some type of resolve happening between Democrats and Republicans getting partial funding back to Homeland Security?
Well, Donald Trump and congressional Republicans would rather shut down TSA, shut down the Coast Guard, and shut down FEMA rather than make accountability measures to an out-of-control agency, ICE, that's killed two American citizens and has terrorized thousands of others across this country.
They have invaded our cities and they have hurt the American people with their unconstitutional actions that have violated civil rights.
They have violated human rights.
They have violated constitutional rights across the board.
And we want simple accountability measures.
And until they provide those accountability measures, we are standing with the American people and saying that the people deserve better than what this administration is giving them.
Representative Tim Kennedy, Democrat from New York, serves the 26th district of the state.
Even When It Undermines00:02:55
Thanks for your time this morning.
Always a pleasure.
Thank you, Pedro.
And we have members of Congress joining us throughout the morning to give their perspective.
Representative Sulha Subramanyam, the Democrat from Virginia, a member of the Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee ranking member, also a member of the Science, Space and Technology Committee joining us from Capitol Hill.
Representative, good morning.
Good morning.
What were your impressions of last night's address?
I'm not surprised.
The president was trying to paint a picture of an America where costs have been lowered.
It's a golden age and it's an economy and a country generally that's working for everyone.
But that's not the case.
That's not what's happening right now.
Because of the president's policies on things like tariffs, we've seen rising costs for a lot of Americans.
We've seen a lot of Americans not feel included in this economy.
We've seen their health care taken away from them, their benefits taken away from them.
And so I represent Virginia and we didn't see anything about federal workers or contractors.
And instead, what we saw was more lies from the president.
So certainly we're going to hold him to task here in Congress.
But I think the American people probably weren't surprised by the lies, but we're surprised that he didn't even acknowledge some of the pain that I hear about every day.
As far as your fellow Democrats, did you, and let me ask you this, did you actually attend this speech?
Because many of your fellow Democrats did not.
I was there.
Yes, I attended the entire speech.
And other Democrats feel the same anger that I feel.
And they had different ways of showing it.
And I think all of them were valid.
You know, some went out and protested or were at rallies outside.
Others were in the gallery but wanted to be more vocal.
I was silently listening to the speech.
I clapped when it was appropriate to clap, but there's not a lot to clap about when it came to his policies.
And particularly that point where he asked people to stand when it comes to the topic of sanctuary cities, what was your position and what did you think of that technique during the speech itself?
I think the president's goal was to try to humiliate Democrats, try to corner them on certain issues, try to isolate them in some ways.
There's a lot of spiking the football and reminding the people that he's completely in charge of Congress too.
And Republicans certainly were getting up and clapping for everything he said because they see it as their job to do nothing but support this president, even when it undermines policies that they believe in, even if it undermines the American people.
So certainly I wasn't going to get up and clap for everything the president was going to say about things.
And so you stayed seated, is that the case?
Yes, I stayed seated.
He did, because you serve on matters of military and foreign affairs, things like that, one of the things he did briefly talk about was Iran saying that he preferred a good afternoon, everybody.
So let me say a couple things about what we're announcing today, and then I'm going to kick it over to Dr. Oz, and then we are going to take a few questions.