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Hispanic Federation Statement on President Trump's State of the Union Address

New York, NY — Hispanic Federation President José Calderón issued today the following statement regarding President Trump's State of the Union address:

"Last night, President Trump delivered a State of the Union address that was long on rhetoric and, unsurprisingly, short on facts. While the President attempted to present himself as a conciliator and consensus-seeker, anyone who has lived through the last two years knows that the President’s values and politics are in daily opposition to the vision he offered yesterday. No speech can undo the damage done to our nation over the course of this administration."

"While the President called on Congress to work with him in a spirit of “cooperation, compromise and the common good,” the last month saw the President callously shut down the federal government in an attempt to force the American people to pay for a border wall they neither want nor need. On a daily basis, the President created fabrications and directed invective and ridicule at immigrants to justify his actions. To quote the late great Maya Angelou, “when people show you who they are, believe them.”"

"Our nation faces great challenges. Income inequality is growing. Reproductive rights are under siege. Immigrant families are being criminalized and children are being caged. Our voting rights are under attack. The list goes on."

"Tonight, President Trump could have chosen to address these issues by providing real leadership with fact-based solutions. Instead, we were treated once again to manipulative mischaracterizations of the immigrant experience, attacks on women’s control of their bodies, and not a word about the threat of climate change, or how the federal government can finally do right by the people of Puerto Rico, or how we can expand health care coverage for more Americans."

"For us, then, the President’s words about wanting to unite our country are as fleeting as they are hollow. Mr. Trump has built his political career and success on pitting Americans against one another and laying bare the worst impulses of our nation. Our communities know who he is because they have repeatedly felt the lash of his harmful and hateful rhetoric and policies. We are left to resist and make common cause with those committed to the values that have made our country stronger: empathy for others, inclusion, the protection of democratic institutions, and the pursuit of social justice. Sadly, that is not President Trump."