The key facts
- Abdul El-Sayed confirmed on ABC that he had called Trump a 'foolish buffoon', citing the war in Iran, the trade war with Canada and cuts to Medicaid
- On Truth Social, Trump called the midterm election results a 'giant step backward' and said the market lost three trillion dollars in a day
- Stephen Miller has been named White House chief of staff following the dismissal of Susie Wiles
Freshman senator stands by his harsh words
Democratic Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed publicly confirmed on Sunday, November 8, that he had called President Donald Trump a 'foolish buffoon' the day before, and refused to apologize for those words. ABC host Jonathan Karl asked him on the program This Week how he intends to fulfill his campaign promises after such a characterization of the head of state. El-Sayed responded with a list: the war in Iran, which, in his words, all previous presidents had avoided because of the risk of the Strait of Hormuz being blocked as a choke point for energy flows; a trade war with Canada; and cuts to Medicaid to fund tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, which, he warned, 'will take effect in January'. This is reported by The National.
Context after the midterm elections
El-Sayed, who became the first Muslim elected to the US Senate, repeated in the interview his slogan that, according to many experts, carried him to victory: 'take the money out of politics and put the money back in your pockets'. Before he went on air, Trump wrote on Truth Social that 'America took a giant step backward in history' following the midterm elections, in which voters gave Democrats control of the House of Representatives and the Senate. He also said that the stock market, which had previously soared like a 'rocket' under him, lost three trillion dollars in a single day, but added: 'don't be afraid, we will be back'. The first sign that the White House would double down on its hard-edged communication style was the appointment on Friday of the longtime and polarizing adviser Stephen Miller as White House chief of staff following the dismissal of Susie Wiles.
Democrats prepare an aggressive agenda
El-Sayed directly linked Trump's personnel decision to his own criticism: 'If he wants to keep being a buffoon, he will keep hiring people like Stephen Miller into the White House, and he himself chooses where to go next. The American people have made their choice.' Congressman Robert Garcia has taken a similar line; he is likely to chair the House Oversight Committee in January: on CNN he said that Democrats 'will do their job aggressively', days after saying that Miller should 'hire a lawyer'. According to Garcia, Miller is the 'architect of horrific unjust policies' across the country, referring to the expansion of the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and, in the view of many, the unconstitutional and aggressive tactics of its agents. All of this is happening against a backdrop in which many Americans are facing rising prices, a sluggish economy and an increasingly unpopular conflict with Iran.
