Rep. Blumenauer Has A Single Word For Trump

In a tweet and statement released following the president's first joint address to Congress, one Congressperson had a perfect response to Trump's speech. Congressman Earl Blumenauer of Oregon had only one word for his constituents in the wake of Trump's speech: "resist."

Rep. Blumenauer's presence at the Congressional address was already controversial: he brought Muslim activist Wajdi Said, an Oregonian activist and co-founder of a number of Muslim advocacy organizations in the state, as his guest. Blumenauer was one among many Democrats who brought dissenting guests to the address as a form of protest.

Blumenauer is among the more left-leaning members of the Democratic party, and is a strong advocate for marijuana legalization. Along with Congresspeople from Alaska, Colorado, and California, Blumenauer formed the Congressional Cannabis Caucus in mid-February, in part to counter the newly-confirmed Attorney General Jeff Session's staunch anti-marijuana stances.

This is far from the first time Blumenauer has used his position as a Congressperson for activism: in 2015, the Oregonian representative introduced a common sense gun bill titled "Enough is Enough" that sought to respond to curb gun violence after national tragedies like the Sandy Hook elementary school shootings in 2012. After the Orlando Pulse shootings last June, Blumenauer released a statement condemning the "homophobic attack that has shattered lives."

Blumenauer has been against Trump from the beginning — shortly after the election, he published a statement on Medium calling for the president to apologize for "running the most inflammatory, reckless campaign in America’s history," and got personal when he said then-president-elect Trump should apologize to biracial people like his grandchildren:

He should apologize to my biracial grandchildren who are now at greater risk not just of taunting but real physical threats from the racist element that now feels entitled by his words and action.

A few days after Trump was inaugurated, he published a thread of tweets calling the president "liar-in-chief" for the reported falsehoods of his first few days as president.

With a voting record as one of Congress's more liberal members and a history of environmental and anti-gun causes, Blumenauer is right in telling his constituents and all Americans opposed to Trumpism to "resist." There's plenty to criticize in the Democrats' show of opposition, but Congresspeople like Blumenauer are definitely among those who seem willing and able to actually step up to bat for the Americans hurt by Trump and his policies, regardless of whether it gains him political clout.