Democrats: Americans want opportunity, not ‘saviors or handouts’

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) on Friday blasted President Trump’s promises of greater employment and a bolstered economy, saying the president “nurtures fear” and a “dark picture of the future.” 

“When factories close, good people lose more than their paychecks. Dignity, worth, a sense of belonging also seep away. Pride and community turn to fear and division. President Trump trades in that decline. He nurtures fear, paints a dark picture of the future, and blames immigrants, Muslims, Democrats and the media,” Himes said in the weekly Democratic address. 

{mosads}”We Americans are decent, neighborly, self-reliant people. We’re not looking for saviors or for handouts. We’re looking for opportunity, and we know exactly where it comes from,” he continued. 

The congressman went on to say that in order to be successful, Americans must be well-trained and educated for the workforce.

He jabbed Trump again by calling the president “a tweeter-in-chief” who is preventing progress in the workforce. 

Himes, chairman of the New Democrat Coalition, was promoting the Democratic Party’s “Better Deal” initiative, which counters Trump’s jobs and economic agenda. 

The president has lamented the disappearance of manufacturing and coal jobs in the U.S., with a focus on the rust belt. 

He has railed against international trade deals, which he has deemed as bad for U.S. jobs, and has worked to lift regulations on the coal-mining industry.