Credit: Rich Pedroncelli, Associated Press
Attorney General Xavier Becerra, class of ‘76, gave the Spanish-language response to the State of the Union on Tuesday in McClatchy’s own library. It was the first time the Spanish-language Democratic response has been delivered live.
Becerra, who was appointed by former Governor Jerry Brown to replace Kamala Harris, is California’s first attorney general. He has gained notoriety as one of the chief adversaries against the Trump administration. During his time as attorney general, he has filed over 100 legal actions against the Trump administration, including defending the Affordable Care Act and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA).
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that they had chosen Becerra because of his record fighting against “the Trump administration’s harmful and divisive attacks.”
Throughout his address that was delivered live on Telemundo, he slammed Trump’s policies and threatened legal action against Trump’s proposal to divert money from Puerto Rico and other disaster aid to fund the border wall. “We will reject this foolish proposal in court the moment it hits the ground,” he said.
“How can it be that the state of our young, rich, and strong nation is now disorder, tension, and hostility?” he added in response to Trump’s “obsession” with building a border wall.
The address was given in McClatchy’s library to an audience of around 50 McClatchy students, who served as “political observers and critical analysts for their peers,” according to Lori Jablonski, a social science teacher. Those present were able to ask questions of Becerra after the address.
“I’m a Lion through and through…it’s nice to come back…you know it makes you feel like you’re at home,” he told the press on why he chose McClatchy to give the address.
McClatchy senior and Brown Issues member, Ariadne Castaneda, sited McClatchy’s diversity as reason enough to be chosen. “Walking the hallways I always hear at least three different languages being spoken, we’re just incredibly diverse and especially right now that our country is so divided, I feel like at this school we can really unite and just be a school, become educated, become a community of young people that are just trying to make it through this.”
Castaneda added, “It was inspiring to see Xavier Becerra speak at C.K.M., to know that someone so important and which such power to make positive change was walking the same hallways and going through the same life as my peers and I.”
Becerra told the press that he hoped McClatchy students walked away understanding that “they can participate, they can be part of the State of the Union, they can see what it’s like, that it’s not that difficult, and that at the end of the day, they better get ready because they’re going to be the future leaders.”