“I'm not going to root for President Trump to succeed just on his terms,” Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said on ABC's “This Week” on Sunday.
A partial transcription follows:
Jonathan Karl: So what are you? What are your expectations for Trump's second term?
Padilla: There's a lot of things, but we're probably not hoping for the best, we're hoping for some good things, but if the first administration was any indicator, we're preparing for some bad things. Masu. There has been much evaluation and analysis of what the results of the November election will mean for the Democratic Party. I think I speak for the Democratic Party and my colleagues here that we are ready to work with a new administration that we agree with. From an economic and security standpoint, if we want to build on the progress of the past four years of record job creation, wage increases, record low unemployment, and historic investment in our nation's infrastructure, that's great. is. But if you want to start your administration by watering down the social safety net just to fund tax cuts for billionaires, that's not a start. So I think the question really is with Trump and the Republican Party, how are they going to choose to approach this new term and this new Congress?
Karl: Well, I'd like to ask you about the cooperation part with Trump. Your Democratic colleague from Pennsylvania, John Fetterman, actually went to Mar-a-Lago and met with Trump. And he said – in fact, just before he went there, he told me that he was rooting for Trump to be successful as president. He said that if you are against the president, you are against the country. Are you rooting for Trump to succeed, too? And have you reached out? Would you like to meet with him one-on-one, like Sen. Fetterman did?
PADILLA: Look, which president I root for success depends on how you define success. And I said, are we going to continue the progress we've made over the last four years, for national security, for the economy and for working class families, and absolutely for Donald Trump or whoever. But I'm not going to support President Trump's success solely on his terms.
Here's a classic example. Just a few months ago, when he publicly said he supported helping Dreamers, despite all the rhetoric about immigrants and immigration that we've heard from him for years and years, hey, I are all listening. You have to do that.
I wonder if there is a path forward for young people who come to this country and establish a life here, whether it's a path to legalization or citizenship, to contribute to their communities and contribute to the economy. I owe it to Dreamers and all of my constituents to make sure. To the dreamers, farmworkers and millions of essential workers. That's the goal, and I'm going to work with whoever I need to make it happen.
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