Congressman Kennedy on delivering SOTU rebuttal

January 31, 2018 6:47 am

By: News Staff

Email: news@abc6.com

Twitter: @ABC6

FALL RIVER, Mass. (WLNE) — Congressman Joseph Kennedy talked to reporters Tuesday night before delivering the Democratic Response to President Trump’s State of the Union.

So why did party leaders pick the 37-year-old rep with a famous last name?

“Your guess is as good as mine. When I had a conversation with Leader Pelosi when she sent me this invitation she didn’t say because of x, y, or z. she just asked and I said yes,” Congressman Kennedy.

Kennedy spoke not from the nation’s capitol, but from Diman Regional Technical High School in Fall River.

He has toured the school several times and to highlight what he sees as the need for more vocational training in Massachusetts and beyond.

“When you have waitlists thousands of students long to get into schools like Diman,” said Kennedy. “When high schools like this have proven that they have a track record to get kids into a bright and valuable. And we’re not funding it. We know it works and we’re not funding it.”

Kennedy’s invited guest who was in Washington was transgender Army Sergeant Patricia King, who is from Massachusetts and served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The move was designed to protest Trump’s support of a ban on transgender service members.

“To have somebody that not only has served our country so bravely, but is willing to continue to do so, that also has the courage to put herself forward, be the first person through this process,” said Kennedy. “And be the one that is out there forcing us all to live up to those values.”

When asked if his speech was a sign of aspirations to higher political office, Congressman Kennedy said, “My ambition at the moment is to put forth a good speech. Put forth values and vision that people can get behind, and then I want to sleep.”