Reactions in Massachusetts to President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday have been predictably split down party lines. The deep blue commonwealth’s largely Democratic representatives on the federal, state, and local level offered scathing criticism to the Republican’s historically lengthy speech, accusing Trump of gutting the federal government, acting dictatorially, and serving the interests of his wealthy allies at the expense of working people. The address came after a flurry of executive orders from the Trump White House ordering rapid cuts to government spending and issuing mass layoffs of federal employees, many of which now sit in court. Leaders of the MassGOP, however, are praising the president’s remarks and offering a far sunnier reflection on the chaotic first weeks of his second term. Massachusetts Republican Party Chair Amy Carnevale spoke with WAMC on Wednesday.
CARNEVALE: I thought it was a strong address from President Trump. He was clearly speaking to, not only to Republicans, but also independents, and I think Democrats too. And in talking about his achievements over the first 43 days in office, I was really impressed with the number of actions that the President Trump has taken, both on the economy and the issue of immigration, which are the top two issues in Massachusetts that we face. So clearly, President Trump has started out strong, and he is continuing to move forward quickly to try to benefit the American people. Also, to just point out trade- You know, trade is an issue that I think can play both ways in Massachusetts, and President Trump has made clear in his campaign, and I think now in office, that Americans should be prioritized above other countries, and he's working hard to make sure that tariffs that he's put in place really are designed to provide equal treatment to America in dealing with our trading partners overseas.
WAMC: I wanted to ask you about the role of Elon Musk and DOGE in the Trump administration. There's been a lot of criticism about the President and others in his administration speaking out against this concept of a deep state of unelected bureaucrats running the nation, and certainly, an unelected figure like Elon Musk taking charge of a major government initiative seems to be a little contradictory to that concept. Can you speak to that disparity?
Well, you know, Elon Musk is clearly highly intelligent, an entrepreneurial figure that I think will go down in American history, and the fact that Elon has transformed a number of industries, including kind of space development satellites and now has kind of been tasked by President Trump to help look at the federal government is interesting, but I think it's clear to most Americans that Elon is approaching this with a viewpoint that he is trying to improve the economic future of the United States. Certainly, I think that the press that Elon has gotten for his own businesses has somewhat suffered as a consequence. So, the State of the Union, kind of, we heard that some of the international aid programs listed, which seems pretty ludicrous, and those only really came to light as a result of kind of a fresh perspective, someone from the private sector taking a look at government programs that have existed for many, years, and really, nobody before him has really captured the attention of the public or had been able to kind of shed light on some of these programs that that I think many Americans would agree does need to be reexamined.
Certainly, some of the criticism around DOGE, Musk and the Trump administration has to do with the layoffs of federal employees, and that that is hitting Massachusetts as well. Do you have any message to folks who were put off by having lost their jobs as a result of this, or are concerned about their future and their family's future as a result of these sweeping cuts, which some have characterized as being too rapid?
Yeah, so certainly, most federal workers are, are in their chosen profession, because they feel strongly about the undertaking that they're involved in and really improving America, so, I don't kind of negatively cast light on any of those individuals, and it's tough when people do lose a job. At the same time, this does happen all the time in the private sector, and our federal budget is far out of balance. So, we do need to take a look at government institutions and government programs and government jobs that have, in some cases, existed for many, many years but have not really been reexamined. So, I certainly feel compassion and empathy for those individuals and their families. But again, sometimes these tough changes are necessary to move us forward.
I wanted to ask you about another major plot line that headed into Trump's address to the Congress and Senate, that being a foreign policy around Ukraine, the meeting with President Zelenskyy. What's the MassGOP take on that issue? There's a lot of controversy around that very intense meeting, a lot of criticism from the international community, here in Massachusetts. How is the MassGOP responding to that?
Yeah, well, so the party itself tends to try to keep its focus a little closer to home. We certainly have been following the debate. I think there's some Republicans certainly that that kind of want us to be engaged internationally, and others that think our situation has kind of played itself out in Ukraine and want to see the people of Ukraine take a greater role along with their European partners, and is sustaining the effort moving forward and trying to achieve a peace, but the party itself is really has its focus closer to home.
I wanted to ask you- Speaking with local elected officials in Massachusetts, there's a lot of concern about how ambiguity around federal funding is going to impact budget season in the hundreds of communities in the commonwealth. Are you concerned at all about that possibly being a factor of the perception of the Trump administration and the GOP right now, this idea that all of these changes might actually have a local impact here in the commonwealth?
I do think that there will be an impact for many institutions in Massachusetts. So, I'm thinking in particular about some of our higher education institutions, perhaps some of our hospitals and biomedical research facilities that do rely upon federal funding. So, I do think that we could see some reductions and some impacts in Massachusetts. Massachusetts is a large recipient of federal dollars, so I think as the federal government looks to reallocate there could be changes to come. And I also just point out, some of the comments that have been made publicly by our governor and mayor of Boston that have not been very helpful in dealing with the Trump administration, I think is, in some cases, kind of taunting them to look at Massachusetts, does a disservice to some of the important programs that we do have going on in Massachusetts. So, I do worry about some of our institutions that receive federal funding. I'd say maybe a little less concerns about funding for communities themselves, because a lot of that is state funding rather than federal.
So, I'm just interested, as a strategy piece for the MassGOP- You've acknowledged that there could be an impact on some of the top industries in Massachusetts from some of these Trump policies. Are you concerned about the impact that could have on the MassGOP, especially after your considerable accomplishments last year, if the parties associated with possible cuts to some of those major sectors to the commonwealth?
Um, you know, so, I do think, you know, what I think the party will talk about the fact that our businesses and institutions in Massachusetts need to make the case for federal funding, and perhaps need to cooperate and collaborate more closely with the Trump administration to receive federal funding, and so I think that's the argument we’ll make. But I also think many residents of Massachusetts appreciate the need to get our fiscal house in order, and also feel the burden of the high cost of living in Massachusetts and high taxes, and it's all interrelated.
