BRIAN LEHRER: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. We'll focus now on the Democratic response to last night's State of the Union-style speech. There was the moment when Texas Congressman Al Green got himself ejected from the chamber for protesting mostly over potential Medicaid cuts. He did it out loud several times and he got ejected. There were signs that other Democrats were holding up during Trump's address. And most notably, there was a rising star who's been getting very good reviews for the official Democratic response, Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin, who's a freshman who won her race in Michigan even as Trump was winning the state in his. And she went right after Trump last night on something that's supposed to be one of his strengths.

SENATOR ELISSA SLOTKIN: Look, the president talked a big game on the economy, but it's always important to read the fine print. So do his plans actually help Americans get ahead? Not even close. President Trump is trying to deliver an unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friends. He's on the hunt to find trillions of dollars to pass along to the wealthiest in America. And to do that, he's going to make you pay in every part of your life. Grocery and home prices are going up, not down. And he hasn't laid out a credible plan to deal with either of those.

BRIAN LEHRER: We'll hear more from Elissa Slotkin's speech in this segment. Probably many of you did not stay up that late after Trump's speech. That was very long. With me now to discuss the Democratic response is Kadia Goba, who covers Congress for Semafor. Thanks for coming on after a late night, Kadia. Welcome back to WNYC.

KADIA GOBA: Why, thank you for having me, Brian.

BRIAN LEHRER: So why did the Democrats pick a little known freshman senator to give that response last night? And how would you characterize her approach to that assignment?

KADIA GOBA: You know, I think you pointed it out in her in your opening. This is because Donald Trump had such an overwhelming win throughout the country. This is a Democrat who was able to win a seat in a state that President Trump won, frankly. And I think the posture for Democrats has been, listen, we can speak to everyone all the time. So therefore, she is looking like the new face of the Democratic Party. She's also younger. Right? This has been a big criticism on both sides of the aisle, but particularly Democrats who have been going through this phase where they are looking to replace older octogenarians or older members of Congress, especially with new faces and especially after we saw last year with what happened at the top of the ticket between Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. I think they're paying attention to what voters are looking for or expecting.

BRIAN LEHRER: One notable thing that she did last night was make a few references to Ronald Reagan. She said Reagan would be turning in his grave. She actually said that, the way Trump is treating Ukraine. And then there was one more like that with the Reagan reference. Listen to this.

SENATOR ELISSA SLOTKIN: He sees American leadership as merely a series of real estate transactions. As a Cold War kid, I'm thankful it was Reagan and not Trump in office in the 1980s, Trump would have lost us the Cold War. Donald Trump's actions suggest that in his home, he doesn't believe we're an exceptional nation. He clearly doesn't think we should lead the world.

BRIAN LEHRER: So that's an interesting line of attack, Kadia. Right? Trump says America is back on the world stage as well as domestically. Slotkin is arguing that the whole idea of American exceptionalism that Republicans like to cite more than Democrats often, frankly, was supposed to be an advanced democracy as a model for the world. The Dems did run a lot on that in the election, though, and it wasn't enough to win without a better economic message getting through. Did you hear her combining the two in a new way? Given the two clips we played so far?

KADIA GOBA: I do think it's reminiscent of what the campaign was trying to accomplish. And I certainly think Slotkin is appealing to that Republican who is probably not comfortable with how Donald Trump has been been approaching geopolitics or specifically Ukraine. Republicans won't admit it, but on the Hill, people were very concerned about what happened between President Zelensky of Ukraine and Donald Trump. President Trump as well as Vice President Vance in the Oval Office the other day, some of them feel a like it was initiated by the American president.

She's also talking to international heads of state who immediately after coalesced around President Zelensky. So I'm sure this is something that is going to resonate in the coming years from Democrats who want to appeal to a broader electoral base outside of Democrats.

BRIAN LEHRER: Right. And she kept going on democracy. We talk about this a lot on this show, about how, you know, just focusing on the specific policies would be to miss the forest for the trees if he's really trying to break democracy and establish more of an authoritarian state. Again, here's Slotkin framing it in domestic terms, but also how it's making the US as she sees it, a global embarrassment.

SENATOR ELISSA SLOTKIN: But our democracy, our very system of government has been the aspiration of the world. And right now it's at risk. It's at risk when the president decides you can pick and choose what rules you want to follow when he ignores court orders and the Constitution itself, or when elected leaders stand by and just let it happen. But it's also at risk when the president pits Americans against each other, when he demonizes those who are different and tells certain people they shouldn't be included.

BRIAN LEHRER: And she landed there on the us versus them, good guys and bad guys tone that so characterized Trump's long speech. You've reported, Kadia, on many people in the Democratic Party's base being dissatisfied with what they see as a tepid response with not enough fight from Democrats in Congress. So I want to get your take on some of how that appeared to effect last night. We saw Texas Congressman Al Green get himself ejected from the chamber for protesting out loud during Trump's speech, mostly about threats to Medicaid funding.

Also, some Democrats came with signs and shirts to display during the Trump speech. I'm not sure they made it onto television, but they said things like this is not normal or just false when they wanted to say he was lying about something. Another one I saw reported said, "Musk steals." And I read that a few Democrats walked out during the Trump speech turning their backs before they worked out showing shirt backs that said resist. Have you been gauging reaction to all that or to Congressman Green in particular?

KADIA GOBA: Sure. Okay, so let me step back a second. You are right to say that there is a portion of the Democratic Party who wants Democrats to fight a little more. The struggle is the response from congressional Democrats is that we're sort of in the minority here. There's not a lot that we can do other than protest. And I think they took this opportunity at the joint session last night. It was certainly one of the more coordinated pieces of protest that I've seen since covering the Hill in 2019. I thought it was interesting that none of us scooped the idea that they were going to hold up black and white signs that said, "Lies" or "Elon" "Steal."

And again, this coordinated five lawmakers walking out with some of them wearing Resist T shirts. It was, again, I think, a very big coordinated effort. On the other hand, I did get a few text messages after Representative Al Green of Texas stood up and kind of went toe to toe with Donald Trump, yelling at him, saying that you don't have a mandate to cut Social Security. He is notably the person that has already filed impeachment articles. He did that the first term. He was the first person to file impeachment articles in Trump's first administration. I don't think that this is the focus that people want to-- I definitely know leadership does not support this kind of approach. They want to focus on kitchen sink table--

BRIAN LEHRER: Kitchen table [unintelligible 00:09:44]

KADIA GOBA: Kitchen table ideas. Exactly. Just like Slotkin did in her message. If you see, most of them are turning the page on impeachment and they're talking more about how can we help the American people, how can we win back working class voters? Because all of a sudden Democrats are viewed as the party of elites and they want to reverse that. So I think there were mixed feelings, definitely a coordinated protest effort, but mixed feelings about Al Green standing up and shouting. He will probably be censured. Speaker Johnson talked about that after the address last night and said he would certainly bring a bill to the floor censuring him if one of his Republican colleagues introduced one.

BRIAN LEHRER: Yeah, well, here was the other part of Senator Slotkin's response speech that made news and maybe was a different turn. Addressing the question which she said a lot of people have been asking them, I think, including a lot of people who are frustrated with what the Democratic members of Congress are and aren't doing so far. The question how do we actually save democracy? And she suggested three specific things that she said anyone can do.

SENATOR ELISSA SLOTKIN: First, don't tune out. It's easy to be exhausted, but America needs you now more than ever. If previous generations had not fought for this democracy, where would we be today? Second, hold your elected officials, including me, accountable. Watch how they're voting. Go to town halls and demand they take action. That's as American as apple pie. Third, organize. Pick just one issue you're passionate about and engage and doom scrolling doesn't count. Join a group that cares about your issue and act. And if you can't find one, start one. Some of the most important movements in our history have come from the bottle up.

BRIAN LEHRER: So why do you think she went there? I could hear different reactions from people being like, very good. Finally somebody who's an elected Democratic official is kind of helping give people the tools to organize. Or some other people saying, "This is your job. Don't put this back on me. Democrats are being too passive."

KADIA GOBA: Yeah, I think Democrats at large feel like Slotkin did a really good job. It was certainly a breakout moment for her personally. But more broadly, I think she summarized what Democrats defense in a way, or what they've been trying to do, but frankly have been struggling to do so far. I mean, she touched on the economy, national security, democracy, but most importantly, like you point out, she gave directions. And I think there are a lot of frustrated Democratic voters who haven't been engaged either because they feel unmotivated or exhausted.

And she kind of gave them those tools. I haven't heard negative feedback about her doing that, but I think that is something I definitely hear from members on the Hill. They want more direction on how they can essentially fight back or engage voters on what is going to be a very long four years. And I also want to point out, I also thought it was good that she talked about the country's political instability and then acknowledged that it's really not clear what's going to happen in the next decade or in the next day.

BRIAN LEHRER: Yeah. So last thing, Kadia, where do the Democrats go from here? Was last night a turning point in any way for what at least the elected Democrats, especially the Washington based one, she's a senator now from Michigan, if we're going to start hearing different messages or see different kinds of actions from them as they literally fear for our country's democracy and also are outraged at some of the specific policies.

KADIA GOBA: Yeah, listen, I think Democrats have been doing this since at least February, but I think it took a platform like the State of the Union or the joint address rebuttal to actually articulate a clear message to voters. And I think Slotkin was the right person to do that. But this is something Democrats have been saying and I think you're you're going to see more unified response like this talking about how American voters or how the middle class can benefit from a Democratic leadership and pointing out specific policies that might be harmful for voters that they see coming into fruition now under the Trump administration. So I think you're going to see a lot of coordination around that, specifically targeted at the middle class.

BRIAN LEHRER: Kadia Goba covers Congress for Semafor. Thanks for this morning, Kadia. Appreciate it a lot.

KADIA GOBA: Thanks for having me, Brian.

BRIAN LEHRER: Brian Lehrer and WNYC. More to come.

Copyright © 2025 New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use at www.wnyc.org for further information.

New York Public Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline, often by contractors. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of New York Public Radio’s programming is the audio record.