One Year of Darkness, Cruelty — and Hope

Today marks one year since Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term as President of the United States.

Public Citizen co-presidents Robert Weissman and Lisa Gilbert issued the following statement:

“In just one year, Donald Trump and his administration passed legislation slashing health care for millions, unleashed violent white nationalism against immigrants, cozied up to predatory corporations and billionaires, engaged in reckless foreign policy that sacrifices stability and safety for military bravado, dismantled key government agencies protecting consumers, and so much more.

“We can’t sugarcoat it: It’s been a devastating and overwhelming year. But those of us standing up against the lawlessness and corruption of this administration cannot give up. All we need to do is look at what we have accomplished in the past year to know that our hard work is paying off — and that, if we keep up the fight, we can win this.

“Working closely with allied organizations, we mobilized over 7 million Americans to participate in the October No Kings Day — the largest single day of protest in American history — and millions more on other major days of action. We kept tabs on the corporations and billionaires enabling and lobbying for many of the administration’s worst abuses. And, in just one year, we sued the administration 30 times, achieving significant results including keeping the national hunger hotline open and restoring critical health and climate research to government websites.

“Next year will be just as challenging — if not more so — than this first year of Trump 2.0. But we are more prepared, more united, and more fired up than ever to fight back against authoritarianism and save our democracy. We will never back down.”