Subject: Not a Dime's Worth of Difference Between Trump and the House GOP
From: Dem Leader Press Office <[email-masked]>
To: Undisclosed recipients:;
Date: Thu, 12 May 2016 19:12:41 +0000

Speaker Ryan and his House Republican Conference say they're shocked at presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s appalling policies and despicable rhetoric.  Yet for years, Republicans in Congress have advanced the same kind of extremist, reprehensible language and discriminatory legislation.

Americans aren't buying the GOP's surprised attitude.  As Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats leaders said yesterday: there’s “not a dime's worth of difference<http://www.reuters.com/video/2016/05/11/pelosi-not-a-dimes-worth-of-difference-b?videoId=368453173>” between<http://www.democraticleader.gov/newsroom/house-republicans-in-their-own-words/> Trump and House Republicans.

POLITICO<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/nancy-pelosi-paul-ryan-trump-support-223058>:

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday blasted House Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republicans in the chamber who have been unwilling to support Donald Trump.

“Some Republicans, including members of their leadership, have said they cannot support the vile rhetoric and radical proposals of the Republican front-runner,” Pelosi said at the outset of a news conference convened by House Democrats. “Today, we have gathered to ask, since when? Since when have the House Republicans been so concerned about intolerant statements and discriminatory ideas?”

Pelosi said Republicans appear to be surprised by the rhetoric Trump and former GOP candidates deployed on the campaign trail. “But year after year, Republicans have enthusiastically turned their intolerance and their discrimination into legislation,” she said.

The California Democrat argued that there isn’t “a dime’s worth of difference” between Trump and Republicans in the lower chamber, remarking that House Republicans attacked women’s health care a dozen times and threatened a government shutdown over Planned Parenthood funding.

 “The Republicans have created an environment in radicalism, fear and exclusion,” Minority Whip Steny Hoyer said. “The presumptive nominee is the result of their work, and what they have sowed is what they are reaping.”

The Hill<http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/279550-dems-house-gop-just-like-trump>:

“What has happened in this campaign is that Donald Trump has pulled back the veil,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday during a press briefing in the Capitol. “What he says, is what they say, and now people can see the connection between them.”

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the minority whip, piled on, accusing the Republicans of “creating an environment of radicalism, fear and exclusion” that echoes in Trump’s message.

“The presumptive nominee is the result of their work,” Hoyer charged. “And what they have sowed they are now reaping.”

GOP criticism of Trump hit a highpoint last week when Speaker Paul Ryan (Wis.), the highest-ranking Republican in Washington, took the extraordinary step of refusing to endorse Trump’s bid, citing concerns with the tenor of Trump's message as well as policy positions that run counter to Ryan's conservative leanings.

“Since when have the House Republicans been so concerned about intolerant statements and discriminatory ideas?” Pelosi asked.

“They appear to be shocked by their candidate … by their rhetoric on the campaign trail. But year after year, Republicans have enthusiastically turned their intolerance and their discrimination into legislation,” she added. “Whether it's insulting President Obama, women, immigrants, Muslims, LGBT Americans –– there's not a dime's worth of difference between what Donald Trump says and what the House Republicans have been saying all along.”

The Democrats unveiled a video highlighting statements by rank-and-file members.

In one clip, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) claims that an overwhelming majority of undocumented immigrants are drug smugglers “with calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.”

In another, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), former chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, says he “absolutely” promotes the universal surveillance of mosques and Muslim communities.

Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) promotes his bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks by claiming that the “incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low.”

And Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-Texas), in still another clip, decries the “fascist intolerance” of gay rights advocates, comparing them to Nazis.

Rep. Joe Crowley (N.Y.), vice chairman of the Democratic Caucus, said such statements have given rise to Trump, and any Republicans lamenting their presidential frontrunner have only themselves to blame.

Rep. Jim Clyburn (S.C.), the third-ranking House Democrat and a leading member of the Congressional Black Caucus, took the argument back much further, maintaining that Trump's bellicose message has roots in other Republican campaigns of decades past. He cited Barry Goldwater's opposition to the Civil Rights Act; Richard Nixon's "Southern Strategy;" and Ronald Reagan's campaign speech outside Philadelphia, Miss., where three civil rights activists had been murdered by white supremacists in 1964.

Huffington Post<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/house-democrats-donald-trump_us_57334d93e4b096e9f0935736>:

…House Democratic leaders argued that Republicans over the years created the very environment in which the former reality TV star has risen politically.

Throughout his campaign, Trump has tried to isolate disadvantaged groups, starting with Mexican immigrants, whom he described as “criminals” and “rapists.” As president, he said, he would ban Muslims from entering the U.S. He referred to Fox News host Megyn Kelly’s menstrual cycle when accusing her of asking unfair questions.

“The list goes on,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

A brief video, played at the Democrats’ press conference, showed Republicans making similar comments years before Trump entered the political scene.

Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) was heard in one clip standing by his 2007 remarks to Politico that there “are too many mosques in this country.” In another clip, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) compared LGBT rights advocates to Nazis. And in a 2013 clip, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) claimed that undocumented immigrants have “calves the size of cantaloupes” because they are carrying drugs across the border.

Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) took the story back even further to the 1960s, when he said Republican candidate Barry Goldwater kicked off his presidential campaign with opposition to the Civil Rights Act. Next, GOP candidate Richard Nixon built his run for the White House on what Nixon dubbed the “Southern strategy,” said Clyburn.

Morning Consult<https://morningconsult.com/alert/democrats-campaigning-trump-new-video/>:

…House Democratic leaders played a video designed to flesh out their central argument about why voters should choose their party in November. They say that Donald Trump’s controversial rhetoric…been used by House Republicans for years.

“House Republicans in their own words,” a title card reads at the start, as a piano recording of “Battle Hymn of the Republic” begins in the background. The video then launches into a montage of House Republicans on camera saying that mosques should be kept under government surveillance or that President Obama may not have been born in the United States and arguing that federal funds to Planned Parenthood should be curtailed.

“There’s not a dime’s worth of difference between what Donald Trump says and what House Republicans have been saying all along,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters on Wednesday. “Our point is, since when — all of a sudden — is this very same rhetoric appalling to the Republican leadership and some of the Republican establishment?”

“Donald Trump is the offspring of Republicans in Congress,” echoed Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.), chairmen of the House Democratic Caucus.

MRCTV<http://www.mrctv.org/blog/nancy-pelosi-applauds-comedy-shows-attacking-trump-hopes-press-will-do-well>:

During a press conference Wednesday addressing how presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s “rhetoric” is allegedly similar to comments made by House Republicans, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said late-night comedy shows have done a “good job” attacking Trump and that the “traditional press” should “do that as well.”

While trying to provide examples of how Trump’s words allegedly mirror what House Republicans have been saying, Pelosi said there was a prepared video she was unable to show because of House rules.

She said, “But if you saw a side-by-side, you’d see his birther remarks and their birther remarks. His anti-Muslim remarks and their building walls to Muslims, to immigrants, to the rest. The list goes on. You know it. You could put this piece together yourselves. But to help you along and encourage that, we wanted to present some of the facts to you.”

Washington Examiner<https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjg-8PD1tTMAhUHGR4KHc6pAHoQqQIIHDAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonexaminer.com%2Fpelosi-video-slams-gop-for-support-trumps-ideas%2Farticle%2F2591015&usg=AFQjCNH19Khk5Ara9Icbth_NKjvR_iF1mQ&sig2=OvdoEHWEiftE3nNa47spEg&bvm=bv.121658157,d.dmo>:

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi released a new video on Wednesday that blasts Republican lawmakers for embracing the policies and positions of their party's presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

The video does not mention Trump by name, but instead uses a series of soundbites taken from interviews and floor speeches given by congressional Republicans to further substantiate the Democrats' claims that Trump and House Republicans are anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, anti-women, and anti-LGBT.

Statements made by Republican Reps. Peter King of New York, Steve King of Iowa, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, and Louie Gohmert of Texas, among others, about immigrants, monitoring mosques and ending the federal funding of Planned Parenthood are featured in the video.

"House Republicans: The Party of Radicalism and Fear," the screen reads after nearly two minutes of soundbites.

Pelosi released the video during a press conference Wednesday morning as part of the Democrats' effort to win back a majority in both chambers now that Republicans face a rift in their own party with Trump as their nominee. She argued that Republicans can't pretend to be shocked by Trump's controversial comments when they agree with so much of what Trump says.

"[D]on't you wonder why, and since when, all of the sudden, [the] Republican establishment is appalled by the comments of what Donald Trump is saying when it's what we hear here every day?" she asked.

Daily Mail<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3585111/Donald-Ronald-McDonald-Nancy-Pelosi-gives-Trump-nickname-hammering-House-Republicans-just-intolerant-discriminatory-presumptive-GOP-nominee.html>:

Pelosi and four other top Democrats took turns quoting House Republicans and comparing their comments to those of Trump, who will make an appearance tomorrow in Washington and meet with House Speaker Paul Ryan who has sporadically condemned The Donald's remarks.

'Today we gather to ask, "Since when?"' said Pelosi, taking the podium. 'Since when have the House Republicans been so concerned about intolerant statements and discriminatory ideas?'

Pelosi, along with Reps. Steny Hoyer, Jim Clyburn, Xavier Becerra and James Crowley, all members of the House Democratic leadership, took turns giving examples of comments the Republicans have made, including Rep. Joe Wilson's famous 'you lie' during the State of the Union and Rep. Steve King's 'calves the size of cantaloupes' aimed at immigrants coming from Mexico and south.

'On the evening of [Obama's] inauguration, [Republicans] met at a local restaurant to plot their program of undercutting and undermining his authority as president of the United States and, as if on cue, Donald Trump picked up his efforts to lead the birther movement,' Clyburn pointed out.

'But he didn't stop with just the birth certificate. He began to raise issue with the president's college transcripts as if not only to delegitimize him as president, but to devalue him as a human being,' Clyburn continued.

The Democrats also played a video of some of what they considered to be the most heinous quotes.

'Since when has the Republican leadership in this House been appalled by anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT, anti-Barack Obama, anti-woman comments made by their members?' she mused.

PJ Media<https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/2016/05/11/house-dem-leaders-gop-environment-of-radicalism-fear-and-exclusion-preceded-trump/>:

House Democratic leaders began their press conference today by showing a video of Republican lawmakers saying things that, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) argued, proves they're no different than Donald Trump.

The video includes quotes from Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) on surveillance of Muslims, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) on Mexican drug smugglers, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) on defunding Planned Parenthood, and more.

"All we could present to you today is what they had said in an official setting. In another setting off campus, we will show you what they have said on the campaign trail... I said there's not a dime's worth of difference between Donald Trump and the House Republicans what they say. Attacks on women in the Congress are a dime a dozen. Republicans use taxpayer funds to create a panel to attack women's health and advance a plan of blatant intimidation," Pelosi told reporters.

"They are taking names. They are taking names. You saw that chairwoman of that committee, Congresswoman Blackburn, they are taking names. Does that sound familiar? Republican Trent Franks tries to roll back women's access to comprehensive healthcare because he thinks rape can't cause pregnancy, and he's a Judiciary Subcommittee chair. Meanwhile, again, Marsha Blackburn says women don't want equal pay and Speaker Ryan calls leave for families an unfunded mandated while he says people should have time to spend with their families but -- personally, but not to support it officially."

Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) added that "the Republicans have created an environment of radicalism, fear and exclusion."

"The presumptive nominee is the result of their work, and what they have sowed they are now reaping," Hoyer said. "Tomorrow, House Republicans will welcome Donald Trump to Capitol Hill, someone who supports legislation to allow businesses to refuse services to LGBT people and their families; segregation revisited. But this is nothing new, as the leader has said. In fact, House Republicans have been supporting policy that expressly discriminate against Americans based on who they are or who they love."

Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn (D-S.C.) charged that "from day one, Republican leaders and operatives have orchestrated a program of unprecedented disrespect for President Barack Obama... and as if on cue, Donald Trump picked up his efforts to lead the birther movement."

Washington Examiner<https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjZ_t6r1tTMAhXI7R4KHWA5DfoQqQIIHDAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonexaminer.com%2Fpelosi-confuses-trump-with-ronald-mcdonald%2Farticle%2F2591010&usg=AFQjCNH0CJtgL3xXiXLaYGmYFoZtUoQXAw&sig2=g19Sa7cwMu6paCuQ-1gGfg&bvm=bv.121658157,bs.1,d.dmo>:

Pelosi and other Democrats gathered to make the case that as shocking as some of Trump's comments can be, he is mirroring many of the same things House Republicans have said over the last few years. Democrats put together a video showing Republicans making what they say are anti-woman and anti-immigrant comments.

Pelosi said a side-by-side of Trump and GOP members could have easily been made by the press, but said Democrats were happy to help do it for reporters. She said some late-night TV shows have made these comparisons, and said she hopes the "traditional press" will start doing the same.