Former President Obama’s speechwriter on Friday mocked President Trump’s inauguration address for sounding like a left-wing caricature of Republicans.
“That was like a bad liberal parody of a Republican president’s inaugural address,” Jon Favreau tweeted after Trump’s speech.
“Strip away all the fear and outrage: he’s a populist who’ll be judged on whether he can deliver on populist promises,” added Favreau, who served in the Obama administration until 2013. “If not, he fails.”
{mosads}Democratic strategist David Axelrod, meanwhile, said during a CNN interview after Trump’s address that the new president had offered a “full-throated, populist manifesto.”
“[Trump] lit this town on fire,” said Axelrod, who served as former senior adviser to Obama and the chief strategist for both of his presidential campaigns.
“He made very clear that he believes it is America first,” Axelrod added. “We’re going to protect our borders, we’re going to protect our jobs. We’re going to essentially draw a line around this country and fight that fight. He laid down the gauntlet.”
Trump took the oath of office Friday and became America’s 45th president, pledging to embark on “a great national journey to rebuild this country and restore its promise for the American people.”
“We are transferring power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the people,” he said at the National Mall in D.C. “Washington flourished but the people did not share its wealth.”