Hoyer Discusses President Trump's Joint Address to Congress on MSNBC's "For the Record with Greta"

WASHINGTON, DC - House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) appeared on MSNBC's For the Record with Greta van Susteren this evening to discuss President Trump's Joint Address to Congress. Below are excerpts from the interview and a link to the video:

Click here to watch the video. 

“I’m not surprised [President Trump said he will discuss immigration reform]. Other than it's always surprising to hear Donald Trump say what he is for and against because it changes on a relatively regular basis. Sometimes it’s based on fact and sometimes not… We'll see what he says tonight. But I was pleasantly surprised that at least he’s talking about moving forward and talking about making sure that those who are working hard - may not have papers to be here, but have been here for some time, working hard, paying taxes - that they do not live under the fear of somebody knocking on their door in the middle of the night and taking them away from their families. If so, that’s a positive step. But again, we need to see the details to see whether it's real.”

“I’m not pleased with what the President has done. He said he was going to be a jobs President. There's no jobs bill that’s come from the Administration. He said he was going to give everybody health care at a better cost than the ACA, we have not seen any such piece of legislation. And he said he was going to work on national security, in fact what he did was issue a ban on Muslims coming into [the country] from seven countries who have not... refugees from those countries who have not committed any terrorist act in this country… So he has not made us more secure or more safe and many, many experts say he had a negative effect not a positive effect. So [Rep.] Maxine Waters reflects the deep disappointment Democrats have and that literally millions and millions of people around the country have, including those who voted for him, that he has not done, to date, the three major issues that he said he wanted to move on.”

“…If he replicates his inaugural address, which of course he essentially said everybody in Washington was incompetent, had done a terrible job, and the country was carnage, which is absolutely wrong. It depends on what he does. If you engender disrespect and anger, don't be surprised that you receive disrespect and anger. And that is what I think Donald Trump did in the campaign, and he did it not just with Democrats, he savaged so many of his opponents, he savaged so many in the press, in calling them the enemy of the people, which is absurd, the press, which I sometimes disagree with, but they are absolutely essential to democracy's acting in a positive and productive way and the citizens having information on which they can base decisions… We'll see what the President does. But I have never seen a candidate, and certainly never seen a President, talk to people, treat people in a disrespectful, horrific way as we have seen Donald Trump do throughout the course of his campaign.”