“People have seen their retirement savings on fire. And there he is out on the golf course. That may end up being the most enduring image of the Trump presidency. That is the president out on a golf cart while people’s retirement is in flames.”
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) joined NBC’s Meet the Press with Kristen Welker for a wide-ranging discussion on President Donald Trump’s reckless tariffs and the impact they will have on California, on pushing hard for the Democratic Party’s big ideas, and on the corruption inside President Trump’s Justice Department.
View the full interview here.
Key Excerpts:
On Trump’s reckless tariff policy and the impact on California farmers and businesses:
Unfortunately, he’s wrecking our economy. I think people have seen their retirement savings on fire. And there he is out on the golf course. That may end up being the most enduring image of the Trump presidency. That is the president out on a golf cart while people’s retirement is in flames. The Treasury Secretary saying that people aren’t looking at where the retirement savings are — maybe he doesn’t have to. He’s got the wealth; he doesn’t have to. Maybe the president, with his wealth, doesn’t have to. But what I’m hearing from Californians is those that have just retired, those are on the eve of retiring, they’re terrified of this. And I hope and pray we stay out of a recession, but if we head into a recession, it will be the Trump recession. He will completely own it. This is a completely self-destructive economic act that he’s engaged in. And it’s not just the tariffs, it’s also the freezing of funds, the firing of people, the alienation of our allies.
In California, I’m hearing from farmers who still haven’t recovered market share from the tariffs during the first Trump administration. I’m hearing from people in the tourist industry. You have people from other countries now who don’t want to come here, most particularly Canadians. I’m hearing from others small business people who are telling me that Canadians are saying, “Don’t send us any more of your products. In fact, we’re going to send you back what you’ve already sent us.” It’s the whole range of Trump economic policies that are really hurting people.
On Democrats pushing back and pushing hard to defend working families:
One thing that we see with the Trump administration is you can move the country far and fast if you have the courage of your convictions, if you’re willing to be bold. Now they’re being bold in a horribly dangerous, destructive direction, which is really hurting working families. But that’s no excuse for Democrats not being bold in our own ideas and pushing the country forward. We’re going to have to do that.
[…] We’re not going to be able to fight what they’re doing in a normal fashion. But in addition to pushing back aggressively and hard and hours in a row like Cory Booker, we’re going to have to be pushing hard on our own big ideas.
On the Trump administration invoking fear to rescue corrupt allies:
[…] We’re seeing countless lawless actions by the administration: going after universities, going after law firms, patently illegal action. But we’re also seeing a lot of surrender to this illegality. Law firms surrendering, universities surrendering. The only way we’re going to get through this is if we stand up with courage and defend ourselves, our institution, defend working people, because ultimately, the Americans are going to be hurt by this. Because to the degree that the Trump administration is fixated on rescuing corrupt allies or punishing law firms that stood up to him, they’re doing nothing about the fentanyl crisis. They’re doing nothing about attacking violent criminals. They’re spending all their time on petty retribution and abusing the Justice Department. I’m having a hearing tomorrow, as you know, on this at 3:30, along with Jamie Raskin. We’re doing the oversight Republicans refuse to do of these corrupt acts going on in the Justice Department.
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