What I heard last night

Last night, Donald Trump delivered his address to Congress. Predictably, it was a nonstop stream of lies, cruel efforts to divide us, frightening justifications for his power grabs, and a blueprint of how he and Elon Musk are going to make Americans less safe.

Instead of attending, I chose to hold a virtual open-to-all town hall on Facebook Live with Oregonians. Thousands of you tuned in to ask questions and express your concerns about the current state of our union.

When people asked me why I decided to hold a town hall instead of attending the speech, my answer was simple: it's what you wanted. When I asked Oregonians what they wanted their elected officials to do, the overwhelming response was to hold a town hall instead of attending the address.

I've held over 1100 town meetings in every corner of our state, and I saw no reason to make different choices last night.

What I heard last night stands in sharp contrast to Donald Trump's alternate reality. Whether it's threats to clean air and drinking water, medicine, health care, Social Security, and so much more, everything Trump and Elon Musk's administration is doing will make Americans less safe.

I remain dedicated to defending our values – any time, any place. I'm making sure that Republicans have their feet held to the fire over their utter failure to protect the American people from Trump's actions. I'm working to remind everyone in advance of 2026 just which party has their priorities front and center.

And most importantly, I'm making sure I keep my promise to hear directly from Oregonians about what matters to them.

We have a lot of challenges to overcome in the days, weeks, and months ahead. But I know that together, we can start changing the political tides and repair the damage to our country. If you believe in our cause, please chip in anything you can to help fund our grassroots movement.

Onward and forward – and let's build a better tomorrow!

Ron