Top House Democrats labeled President Trump a “coward” Tuesday over his executive order temporarily banning immigration from seven countries, and likened the first few days of his administration to an authoritarian regime.
“President Trump is a coward. President Trump, Steve Bannon, and his cronies are cowards, and anyone who doesn’t stand up against this ban joins the ranks of cowards,” Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., said during the House Democrats’ weekly press conference.
The comment was just the latest in the Democratic uproar to the executive order, which set off protests throughout major U.S. cities over the past three days, including at John F. Kennedy airport on Saturday and Lafayette Square outside the White House on Sunday.
Trump’s move also seems to be a turning point for Democrats who were somewhat hopeful to work with him on particular issues. Crowley declared the past week to be “hell week.”
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer said the past ten days of the Trump presidency have been “authoritarian” in nature.
“In the days ahead, we’re going to separate the patriots from the politicians,” Hoyer said. “This president is going to test, from an authoritarian standpoint, whether or not we are committed to the constitution and the laws of the United States, and whether or not we are taking care to make sure that our actions comport with both of those.”
Twice during his weekly pen and pad Tuesday, the longtime Maryland Democrat referred to comments made by billionaire GOP donor Charles Koch, who said over the weekend that he is concerned that Trump will adopt an “authoritarian” style of governance. When pressed over that idea, Hoyer pointed to Trump’s actions in the opening stanza of his presidency.
“The last ten days have been days of great concern for me, and for the country and around the world,” Hoyer said. “And yes, I have greater concern today than I had ten days ago.”
The second-highest ranking House Democrat also touched on a report that staffers on the House Judiciary Committee helped the White House wrote the executive order without the knowledge of Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., the chairman of the committee, and blasted the move as a violation of the separation of powers.
“They did a poor job,” Hoyer said, pointing to their work on the executive action itself. “Unacceptable. We are an independent — we are not an arm of the administration, and hopefully Speaker [Paul] Ryan and Sen. McConnell not simply be an arm of the administration, an irresponsible, dangerous administration to boot.”
“It ought to be very concerning to every member of the Congress of the United States, Republican or Democrat, that you’ve got staff members doing something for the administration without telling their principles,” he added.
Goodlatte reportedly told the House GOP conference Tuesday morning that he allowed his staff to do work for the Trump transition team, but that all of their work concluded by Inauguration ay.
