Democrats don’t like President Donald Trump and have done everything they could since his election to thwart his administration, even to the point of some calling for his impeachment.
But that hasn’t stopped them from emulating Trump’s winning strategy, including calling on voters to “drain the swamp.”
“President Trump when it comes to draining the swamp has been a complete and total disappointment,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said at a press conference at the Capitol on Monday.
“The swamp has never been more foul or more fetid than under this president,” Schumer said.
“The party’s leaders committed to a package of a good-government reforms and campaign finance changes to try to tap into the same populist revulsion with Washington that helped put Trump in office,” NBC reported.
“Instead of delivering on his promise to drain the swamp, President Trump has become the swamp,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said at the press conference.
“Republicans in the White House and the Congress are cravingly beholden to big money interest and the American people are paying the price,” Pelosi said.
Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD) also tried to turn the table on Trump, saying the president is responsible for a “culture of corruption.”
NBC did its part by describing Trump’s presidency in a negative light in its reporting:
It’s an effort to provide an overarching framework of the myriad and diverse scandals in Washington, from Scott Pruitt’s Environment Protection Agency to the Trump-Russia saga, arguing that they all come back to a culture in which donors are rewarded, not voters.
Some Democrats, including Pelosi, have warned against focusing on impeaching Trump instead of crafting a message that will resonate with voters.
To that end, the press conference also included some new details about what Democrats have dubbed the “Better Deal” platform ahead of the November midterms.
Yahoo Finance reported:
The platform takes aim at Trump — who ran on a promise to “drain the swamp” of corruption — and tries to show he has abandoned the pledge and only heightened the ethical problems in Washington, according to a Democratic aide. The party is also setting its sites on congressional Republicans, who Democrats will cast as beholden to corporations and donors when they passed the tax overhaul in December, the aide said.
The Better Deal website lists what Democrats say they will accomplish if they win back at least one chamber in the midterm elections, although with a Republican in the White House, just how much of that plan they could accomplish is debatable.
The “Better Deal” platform — which seems to reflect longtime Democrat talking points — includes “increasing teacher pay & supporting our students,” “fixing our broken political system and returning to a government of, by and for the people,” “public housing & ladders of opportunity for American families,” and “crack down on corporate monopolies & the abuse of economic and political power.”
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