House Dem Rips His Party For Calling Everything Trump Does ‘Dictatorial Or Illegal’ – It ‘Undermines Your Credibility’

Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) criticized his party’s overall response to President Donald Trump’s two weeks in office by calling out fellow Democrats for pouncing on his every move as authoritarian or “illegal.”

Golden, who represents Maine’s 2nd congressional district – which Trump won last November by more than nine points – told The Washington Post on Friday those who oppose Trump must pick their battles wisely. Otherwise, he said, they stand only to undermine their own credibility.

The 42-year-old discussed a number of topics with the paper before he was asked as a lawmaker who “represents a battleground district” how he would rate Democratic opposition to Trump.

Golden replied, “I hate it when people ask me, like, ‘How does this affect you as a battleground member?’ … If all I did here was make decisions based upon that badge of honor — and I mean that — then I would not be able to be effective as I have been.”

He added Democrats must stop reacting to every move Trump makes.

“I don’t think that it’s been very effective, the Dem response, so far,” he said. “In fact, I’m frustrated by it. If you make everything Defcon 5, then eventually nothing is Defcon 5, you know what I mean? And on questions of overreach of constitutional authority, it’s not always so cut and dry.” Golden added:

There are some clear precedents of something that’s unconstitutional, right? But in a lot of cases, it’s not exactly self-evident and it takes time and patience and an interest in getting to facts before you can make these types of assertions. And I think if you rush right out and just say, like, “This is, like, dictatorial or illegal,” you might end up being wrong, and that undermines your credibility.

While referring to comments Trump made about the US taking over Gaza, Golden concluded, “I’m not commenting on his words. I will review his actions and then weigh in on whether or not I think he’s been effective or undermined American interests.”