Congressman Joe Kennedy gave the Democratic response to last night's State of the Union address. He spoke to WGBH's Morning Edition about his response. Below is a transcript of the conversation.
Joe Mathieu: Let's hear from the congressman. I spoke with him a short time ago. He's been up almost all night, which is not unusual for someone with a newborn at home. We cover a lot here beginning with why the city of Fall River and why the Diman School?
Joe Kennedy: Fall River is one of the key communities that I represent. And I've had a chance to visit Diman a couple of times in the time that I've been in Congress. And every time, I've just been blown away by the place — the faculty, the students, the programs, the curriculum, what they are doing there in order to equip the students of that region with skills that they need to succeed today. And for a community like Fall River that is still finding its footing after the recession, to spend some time there, highlight the work that they are doing, and tell their story was a real honor for me.
JM: You said in your address, they are turning American life into a zero sum game. I'm assuming you're talking about the Republican leadership in Washington. Your point is that we don't need to choose between one group or another?
JK: We never should choose between one group or another. We never have chosen between one group or another. Look, the American story, as I understand it, has been about finding the connective threads that unite us as a nation, celebrating those, and using those to actually spread freedom and democracy around the world. And we fight for each other here, we pull for each other here, what I have seen out of this past year from this administration is a series of false choices that essentially pits one group of Americans against another. And what I tried to do last night was, rather than get bogged down in the policy details of every single initiative, was to take a step back and put that in context. And if you look at it that way, not only is it, I think, in the long-run, self-destructive, it's antithetical to the very values that I think our nation holds.
JM: You did not mention the president by name. You seem to suggest that he is a bully and you would not be the first to do that. Is that what you want us to take away?
JK: Look, I think anybody that engages in the type of behavior where they end up scapegoating the people they are supposed to protect, they are supposed to govern, earns that title. And I think it's extremely disappointing that the president and his administration does the same.
JM: Have you heard from the White House at all? I'm shocked there's been no tweeting this morning.
JK: I have not heard from the White House. I don't expect to get a phone call.
JM: There haven't been many calls from the administration. But as I looked at Twitter, the first thing I looked, was to see if the president was responding to the response, essentially. I'm seeing a lot of different things in people responding to your speech last night. A lot of the country got their first glimpse of you in action. And we're doing the whole 2020 thing all over again, can you handle this?
JK: I wouldn't worry about that. I'm not worried about that.
JM: Well, a lot of people are wondering if the Democratic Party is positioning you for a run. And I know that we're a long way off from that, but you're going to face — you're going to face a lot of questions on this front.
JK: No, that's that's not what this was about. And that's not on my priority list at all. So, look, I was honored to be selected by Democratic leadership to be able to try to give voice to a message there that I hope is just something that will resonate, with Democrats, but I would hope across much of the country, and much of the nation. Look, we as a party and I think as a country have an awful lot of work to do. And that is something, again, that, where and if the president pledges last night to try to reach out a hand and work with Democrats and find answers to some of these problems, he will get a willing response. This is not the first time that we will have heard those words from this administration. He's fallen short so far in terms of real engagement and actually a decision to tackle these issues. I hope after last night that he's willing to take us up on that opportunity.
JM: Reviews have been very good from your fellow Democrats, even former Vice President Joe Biden as you thanked on Twitter, they're thanking you for your address last night. That's got to be a good thing, with the risks we all talked about, going into this. We did not see a grab for a bottle of water, it seemed like the optics were good. I keep reading about chapstick for some reason, though.
JK: Apparently a little too much chapstick. I'll note that for next time.
JM: Was it stressful to be up there, though? I mean this is a moment. You've got the backdrop, the cars behind you, you've got a couple of hundred people in the room. Did it go the way you thought it would?
JK: It was actually — it was more fun than I thought it would be. It was obviously an extraordinary honor for me to be able to give the speech, to have students from Diman there in that setting, and the school worked so hard to make it work, and I'm really, really grateful for them. The goal going into it was to not ruin my political career. I think we succeeded, hopefully at that. I will go a little lighter on the lip gloss next time.
JM: Congressman, congratulations on a major honor, and thank you for, as always, being available to us and talking the issues on WGBH Radio.
To listen to the full conversation, click on the audio link above.
