Hmmm. The DNC is going after Trump for his “empty promises on border wall.” pic.twitter.com/mWGaiVkEkO
— Allan Smith (@akarl_smith) August 22, 2017
A press release issued this afternoon quickly began making its way across social media–and raised pretty much everyone’s eyebrows in the process–quickly cementing the Democratic Party as a political organization that’s more or less lost the plot.
In that press release, the Democratic National Committee took aim at President Donald Trump‘s campaign pledge to build a border wall between the United States and Mexico in order to curb immigration. It reads, in part:
“Trump has failed to deliver on his signature promise to build a border wall and have Mexico pay for it. Trump even admitted in a private conversation with Mexico that his border wall promise was “the least important thing.”
The rest of the press release expounds upon those first two sentences and cites to various sources which underline the gulf between political realities and Trump’s campaign promises. However, the full press release doesn’t offer anything further–there’s nothing in the way of what the point being made is–even the Democratic Party’s own position on the border wall is left unclear.
It’s a curious tactic from the Democratic Party, which has recently been described as in a state of disarray.
The press release raises questions about the Party’s commitment to anything other than political point-scoring going forward. And Twitter predictably exploded:
So, um, if this centrist stance is #TheResistance, where does this leave the rest of us? Where’s it leave vulnerable communities & families?
— Zoé (@ztsamudzi) August 22, 2017
i disagree completely – this is all about the party and not about policy – the DNC should celebrate the fact that there is no wall full stop
— Michael Eisen (@mbeisen) August 22, 2017
Deranged statements like this from the DNC are like the off-gassing of a political corpse.https://t.co/mPtq1pjfNM
— Jeffrey St. Clair (@JSCCounterPunch) August 22, 2017
Essentially, most people believed the press release was an attempt to have it both ways: an appeal to those who might not mind a border wall without explicitly coming out in favor of it.
LawNewz contacted the Democratic National Committee and various Democratic Party offshoots in border states that would be affected by the building of the controversial wall but has yet to receive a response besides being directed to read the entire press release.
Chau Lan Ngo, a former staffer with Bernie Sanders‘ 2016 presidential campaign, and currently the co-chair of the Austin Democratic Socialists of America, said:
“This statement is bizarre. We’re starting to act like the GOP during the Obama years. If Obama said oxygen is good for us, they’d hold their breath. So now if Trump fails at something, just because we hate him, we’re for the original thing that was bad to begin with?”
[image via screengrab]
Follow Colin Kalmbacher on Twitter: @colinkalmbacher
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
