(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Rep. Eugene Vindman, D‑Va., suggested on Thursday that President Donald Trump’s initial weeks in office were unprecedentedly worse than any other administration in the nation’s history.
Vindman—who rose to fame in left-wing circles after Trump ousted him from the White House amid his first impeachment—made these comments during a Thursday interview on MSNBC Reports with host José Díaz-Balart.
“I’m hard-pressed to think of the worst 45 days self-inflicted by any administration in this country’s history whether it’s turning away from our values or the economy,” Vindman declared, comparing Trump’s tenure with past national crises.
Vindman’s claims came as a part of his response to Díaz-Balart’s question about his perspective on American values, considering he had fled the Soviet Union as a child.
“You talk about oppression, and I keep thinking about the people of Cuba […]; what’s going on in Venezuela; what’s going on in Nicaragua; what’s going on in Iran since 1979 […] How do you feel every day when you get to go to Capitol Hill and knowing that you were born in a country that, at the time, was under the boot of the Soviet Union?” Díaz-Balart asked.
Reflecting on his journey from refugee to member of Congress, Vindman said he embodied the American dream but suggested it was now at risk under Trump’s presidency.
“Up to this point, this country has always had the American dream; it’s been alive. When you come to this country as a refugee […] and end up in Congress representing almost 800,000 Americans, what better representation of the American dream is there?”
Yet he warned, “That’s been true up until this point, but we’re seeing such a rapid retreat in these first 45 days, like I said it’s an abomination.”
The White House scolded Vindman’s comments, declaring former President Joe Biden’s days in office as tragic for America. “Vindman has a terminal case of Trump Derangement Syndrome — and it shows,” the White House wrote in a press statement.
.@RepVindman has a terminal case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. pic.twitter.com/Y99ZuwGet7
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 6, 2025
