'Chills': Twitter goes wild as Joe Kennedy speaks in Spanish telling Dreamers 'we will fight for you'
Twitter erupted with fervent praise for the young representative's speech and his "on point" Spanish accent.
Representative Joe Kennedy III took on Donald Trump on Tuesday (30 January) night in the official Democratic rebuttal to the president's State of the Union address and slammed the administration for "turning American lives into a zero-sum game". Towards the end of an emotional speech, the 37-year-old broke into Spanish when addressing young undocumented immigrants affected by the expiring Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme or Dreamers.
"To all the Dreamers watching tonight, let me be clear: Ustedes son parte de nuestra historia. Vamos a luchar por ustedes y no nos vamos alejar," he said.
In English, he continued: "You are part of our story, we will fight for you and we will not walk away— we will not walk away."
Kennedy, the grandnephew of the country's 35th president John F Kennedy, also touched on civil rights issues, activist movements like "Me Too" and Black Lives Matter and criticised several of Trump's policies over the past year.
"It would be easy to dismiss this past years chaos. Partisanship as politics, but it is far, far bigger than that," he said. "This administration is not just targeting the laws that protect us, they are targeting the very idea that we are all worthy of protection. For them, dignity is not something you are born with, but something you measure by your net worth, your celebrity, your headlines, your crowd size.
"Not to mention, the gender of your spouse, the country of your birth, the colour of your skin, the God of your prayers. Their record has rebuked our highest American ideals, the belief that we are all equal, that we all count in the eyes of our laws, our leaders, our God, and our government. That is the American promise."
Twitter, on the other hand, erupted with fervent praise for the young representative's speech, "on point" Spanish accent and show of solidarity with Dreamers.
"Wow, Kennedy speaks Spanish better than Trump speaks English," someone wrote.
"Refreshing to see and hear a real leader," another person tweeted. "It's been a while."
Rep. Joe Kennedy III addresses Dreamers in Spanish and English: "You are part of our story. We will fight for you and we will not walk away." pic.twitter.com/U2ciKCxWqh
— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 31, 2018
Joe Kennedy III is speaking fluently in Spanish. Donald Trump can't even speak fluently in English. #SOTU
— Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) January 31, 2018
Joe Kennedy just spoke in Spanish. He's running.
— Thor Benson (@thor_benson) January 31, 2018
Rep. Joe Kennedy reaching out to Dreamers in Spanish was a great contrast to Trump disgustingly hinting that all Mexican immigrants are MS-13. pic.twitter.com/lAKmVw5IHa
— Adam Best (@adamcbest) January 31, 2018
Kennedy's Spanish just triggered Stephen Miller. #SOTU
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) January 31, 2018
The voice of JFK resonates tonight! #Resistance
— UrbanTexasCowboy (@GenX4Hill) January 31, 2018
This is the speech I wanted to hear tonight.... someone please sign him up. Dems, get behind this man. Stanford undergrad, Harvard JD, intelligent, composed, well-mannered, inclusive... all the things we had once and miss so much.
— IaOrana (@TahitiPlumeria) January 31, 2018
Now that's unifying!
— Carrie Skurzewski (@CarrieSkurzews1) January 31, 2018
What a breath of fresh air!
— Islandgurl (@Jandy30Janice) January 31, 2018
Kennedy speaks fluent Spanish.
— Craig Rozniecki (@CraigRozniecki) January 31, 2018
Trump: "Oh yeah? Well, I know how to say hello in Spanish: 'Taco.'"#SOTU #Snark
A Spanish-speaking Kennedy. *swoon* ð #DemocraticResponse
— Evidence-Based Ashley (@ashleydixon) January 31, 2018
Oooooh, Joe Kennedy just broke out the Spanish. And stuck the landing. #SOTU pic.twitter.com/g3eglHa22y
— Jason Karsh (@jkarsh) January 31, 2018
Joe Kennedyâs Spanish accent is ON POINT
— Heidi N Moore (@moorehn) January 31, 2018
#JoeKennedy breaking it down in Spanish! His response is so genuine and so much more reflective of the sentiments of our country! @joekennedy making us proud! #metoo #BlacklivesMatter #DemocraticResponse
— Areva Martin, Esq. (@ArevaMartin) January 31, 2018
When Joe Kennedy the third spoke Spanish and was acknowledging and calling out Donald Dump on his bull sh!t, I was like Joe Kennedy the 3rd 2020 #JoeKennedy2020 pic.twitter.com/FDsLiPMHfN
— Ian K. Grant (@PrinceIankyle) January 31, 2018
Watching Joe Kennedy's SOTU rebuttal after enduring the monotone, soulless, read-for-the-first-time Trump speech is like a rainbow topped with sprinkles. And now, he's speaking Spanish -- extra sprinkles, lol ;)
— Just Shoot Me Now (@2YearsOfMyLife) January 31, 2018
Rep. Kennedy's Democratic response touched on a great theme Dems should amplify in 2018 - Republicans are the party of Either/Or. Winners or Losers. Democrats are the party of Both/And. Dreamers and CHIP kids. We're all in this together, baby!@RepJoeKennedy #SOTU
— Ron Asher (@rmasher2) January 31, 2018
Kennedy/Harris 2020
— khadz (@sweetkhadz) January 31, 2018
@RepJoeKennedy : âUstedes...â
— Lex⨠(@ActuallyAlexis) January 31, 2018
Me:#SOTUResponse #SOTU pic.twitter.com/f5FYzsnFnU
He broke out the Spanish and the smile broke out on my face.
— Moira Barrantes (@Moira80633) January 31, 2018
.@realDonaldTrump may have painfully tried to deceive the American people into thinking he's not an unstable person, but no one's falling for it.
— Nancy Pelosi (@TeamPelosi) January 31, 2018
Rep. Joe Kennedy, on the other hand, embodied our values as a country and exemplified the optimism that Americans are seeking. #SOTU
Beautiful job sir. Inspiring. I feel hopeful for the first time in over a year. #BlueWave2018 pic.twitter.com/SWbkofdLfU
— political patriot (@JPardeeORG) January 31, 2018
Chills ...we saw the future tonight . America has fallen in love
— Rudy Lopez (@dallasrudyL) January 31, 2018
