Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia found the perils of aligning himself with President Donald Trump on immigration, and now he’s making an attempt to undo his mistake.
Forward of Trump’s joint handle to Congress on Tuesday, Warner appeared on Fox Enterprise to clarify his reasoning for attending the speech regardless of different Democrats saying plans to boycott it.
“I may disagree with the president, but I respect the office of the president. I’m probably not going to be jumping up applauding a lot, but I owe him his due as a president. The president has made great, great progress on border crossings. That’s something we ought to celebrate,” Warner stated.
Trump’s speech was a multitude, which Warner skilled firsthand as he sat within the viewers. He watched as Trump lied, used racist language, and smiled as his fellow Republicans suppressed dissenting speech.
However lower than 24 hours later, the senator had a notable change of coronary heart.
Showing on MSNBC, Warner expressed regret for the assertion he made on Fox Enterprise.
“My words yesterday, they were not great, let me be the first to acknowledge that. My choice of words yesterday, I’d like to take them back,” he stated.
Warner’s authentic assertion fed into right-wing rhetoric that falsely attributes a drop in border crossings to Trump’s harsh anti-immigrant stance. However as unbiased truth checkers have famous, the information on crossings is fluid, so it’s disingenuous to credit score the decline to Trump.
Moreover, within the final months of the Biden administration, border crossings have been already on a downward pattern—with out Trump’s bigoted opposition to immigration.
Warner’s remark and subsequent retraction are one other instance of the fumbling and confused response from Democrats since Trump received the 2024 election. Democrats have supported Trump’s Cupboard picks, then apologized for voting for them. The celebration lacks a unified entrance towards his actions, which has led to confusion and discouragement amongst Democratic voters.
Trump is a racist who, simply weeks into his second time period, is already shedding floor in public opinion polls. He’s repeating the identical rhetoric and actions that led him to turn into the one president to lose reelection since 1992.
If Warner and different Democrats wish to keep away from backlash, they should cease getting on board a ship that’s taking up water.
