“America’s moms are greater than fear. We reject the hatred and division President Trump peddled again tonight. We will not be pitted against each other by a President who wants to distract us while he wastes billions of dollars on an unnecessary, wasteful wall and adopts destructive tax schemes that leave working families behind while shifting even more wealth to ultra-rich corporations and individuals. President Trump’s calls for unity ring hollow, given the lies he tells, the inflammatory language he uses, the cruel human rights abuses his administration inflicts on immigrants and asylum-seekers, and the harm his policies are causing to working moms, women of color, and our most vulnerable families.

“We’re not afraid of the mothers and children seeking asylum in this country. America doesn’t need to spend billions of dollars on the President’s vanity wall when health, education, food and nutrition, housing and other essential services need more funding.

“The government shutdown was immoral and unnecessary and it must not happen again. When the President shuttered the government over a manufactured crisis at the border, he created an actual crisis for hard-working families that couldn’t afford food, childcare, or housing. Never again can Congress allow him to hold government workers and contractors hostage to his politically-motivated agenda.

“President Trump talked tonight about  supporting America’s workers, but he stands in the way of much of what women and moms need, including equal pay and affordable childcare. As for paid family and medical leave, lawmakers have an urgent imperative to adopt a comprehensive, national policy that allows all workers to care for their families without risking their jobs or financial security. Trump’s proposed parental leave is wholly inadequate; we need paid family and medical leave that covers everyone -- a comprehensive, meaningful paid leave program that covers all workers, addresses the range of caregiving needs families face, expands the definition of family, provides wage replacement sufficient to allow workers with low wages to take leave, and ensures that the same or comparable jobs will be there when workers return from their leave. That is not what President Trump is proposing.

“The President’s promise to protect people with pre-existing conditions was laughable given that his administration has tried time and again to take away the health coverage moms and families with pre-existing conditions desperately need.

“We are profoundly disturbed, too, by the President’s comments on abortion, which we recognize as an assault on our rights, health care, and bodily autonomy. MomsRising works for more equity in access to reproductive-related health care services, including supporting a woman’s right to choose if, when, and how many children to have, along with support during the pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum periods. We must work to increase access to high-quality reproductive and maternal health services and address the maternal mortality crisis, as well as other systemic issues mothers experience due to race, class, and gender disparities. That’s where our focus as a nation should be. 

“President Trump has done well for the mega-wealthy and ultra-rich corporations. For them, these are the best of times. But for the rest of us, the economy isn’t booming – and sadly, President Trump demonstrated once again tonight that he doesn’t understand that. We will fight back and we will win. We understand what the state of OUR union is and we plan to spend the next year sharing our stories and speaking out for what is best for our country.”