WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (MA-5) joined ABC News ahead of Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress. Below are excerpts from her interview:

On Republicans Breaking Their Promises:

“We have Republicans that won the White House, the House, and the Senate by saying they were going to reduce costs, that they were going to help make our government more efficient. We agree with that message. So why are they doing just the opposite?

“So now, we are defining waste in government as people who are veterans and are entitled to the health care they need to address the toxins that they breathed in fighting for our country? We are saying that those scientists at NASA, our scientists who are doing cancer research, are government waste and inefficiency?

“There are lots of things we can do to make government work better, but that’s not the play here. We know what the playbook is: We take away health care from Americans. We saw it last week in the House with their vote to defund Medicaid, which is taking away health care from our seniors, from our kids, from our veterans in order to have tax cuts for the billionaire class.

“That’s the whole playbook here. And to lie and misrepresent to the American people that this is some effort in government efficiency is a betrayal of people who are asking us to see them — make them safer and more secure."

On The Consequences of Trump's Tariffs:

“What this is, is a political sledgehammer. And to casually say to the American public who is struggling to put food on the table, to afford their prescription medications, to find a roof to put over the head of them and their family, that, ‘Oh, don’t worry, this little power play I’m undergoing is going to cost you increased prices. It will be painful but will be better in the end.’

“How about helping us vote for when we returned manufacturing here through the CHIPS and Science Act? Building things that actually make a difference and keep families secure while creating great paying jobs. That is where our focus needs to be, with the American people, with the hardworking people of this country who are looking to their government and saying, ‘Spend our tax dollars wisely.’

“We need our Social Security protected, our Medicaid, our Medicare. We need to make sure that hungry kids have health insurance and school lunches. We need to make sure that veterans get the benefits that they need. What we don’t need is a tax cut for the billionaire class, who will never even notice it, but seem to have an insatiable greed and need to take away from the American family, make them less safe, make their lives harder and costlier.

“This tariff plan makes no sense. We all want secure borders. We all want to fight fentanyl. How do we do that? We invest in the manpower and the technology at our ports of entry where we know fentanyl flows through.

“We will meet and work with Republicans who are truly serious about that, but do not further rise costs on hardworking American families, all to enact a tax scam on them and give those dollars to billionaires. Democrats are not going to stand for that kind of rip off of the American public.”

On Trump's Meeting with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy:

“If you want to be a mediator, you bring the sides together. You help people get to a point where peace is possible. That is something that everybody wants.

“What we have here is a President who is catering to Putin, a dictator who is aligned with North Korea, with China, with Iran, and saying he has just been so abused in this system and in the American media and by Zelenskyy, who just isn't grateful enough for what we’ve done.

“I’ve met with President Zelenskyy many times. He starts every single conversation with his deep gratitude for everything this country has done to come to the aid of a democracy and an ally that was illegally invaded by Russia.

“What President Trump is doing is switching teams midstream. He is alienating our allies, those who will also come to our defense when we need them to, and saying that it doesn’t matter.

“What matters is his consolidation of power, his wanting to mold his presidency into the dictatorship that Vladimir Putin is offering. It is not how we come to peace. You cannot have peace when you are siding, not with your ally in a democracy, but with Russia and Vladimir Putin.”

To view the complete interview, click HERE.

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