Joe Kennedy responds to Donald Trump State of the Union: ‘Bullies’ never win

"Folks, it would be easy to dismiss the past year as chaos, as partisanship, as politics, but it's far bigger than that," said Kennedy, the 37-year-old grandson of Robert F. Kennedy. "This administration isn't just targeting the laws that protect us. They're targeting the very idea that we are all worthy of protection."

For the Trump administration, "dignity isn’t something you're born with, but something you measure by your net worth, your celebrity, your headlines, your crowd size," Kennedy added, "not to mention, the gender of your spouse, the country of your birth, the color of your skin, the god of your prayers."

WASHINGTON — Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Mass., accused President Donald Trump of dividing the country in the official Democratic response to the State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

Rep. Joe Kennedy responds to Trump’s State of the Union: ‘Bullies’ never win.

He accused Trump of presenting Americans "one false choice after another" based on the premise that "in order for one to win, another must lose." He said the administration had asked them to pick between "coal miners or single moms, rural communities or inner cities, the coast or the heartland."

"We fight for both," Kennedy said. "Because the strongest, richest, greatest nation in the world should not have to leave anyone behind."

Speaking from an auto shop schoolroom in Fall River, Massachusetts, Kennedy highlighted Democratic demands for a higher minimum wage, paid leave and expanded health care, while declaring that "top CEOs making 300 times the average worker is not right" while the stock market soars.

But it was the lines targeting Trump's demeanor and his alienation of Americans who feel "fractured fault lines across our country" that were the most pointed.

Kennedy is less well-known than various Democrats tagged as potential 2020 presidential contenders, and the televised response is by far his biggest moment on the national stage. But he has drawn some attention this year for speeches and statements in hearings decrying poverty, his grandfather's signature issue, and attacking proposed cuts to health care programs and social spending in stark moral language.

While Kennedy was not at the State of the Union, he invited a transgender soldier who has served in Afghanistan, Staff Sgt. Patricia King, to attend as a guest. Kennedy has worked on related issues in Congress and King's appearance highlights his opposition to Trump's decision to not allow transgender individuals to serve in the military, a ban that has since been stalled in the courts.

In a separate Spanish language response to Trump, Virginia state legislator Elizabeth Guzman said the president "has pushed a dark and extremist agenda that damages our national values and endangers national security," according to a translation of her prepared remarks. Among other criticisms, Guzman ripped Trump's decision to end the DACA program for young unauthorized immigrants.

Kennedy also brought up "Dreamers," immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, in his remarks, and at one point addressed them directly in Spanish as well.