During CNN’s State of the Union coverage on Tuesday, DNC Chair Tom Perez stated that President Trump “uses dog-whistle politics, socialism” and “immigration, and the border talk, the caravans are coming,” to distract from problems in the economy and “the culture of corruption that is there.”

After viewing a clip of the president’s remarks about socialism, Perez said, “I mean, this was dog-whistle politics. The whole — Jake, your question’s about immigration. This question’s about socialism, dog-whistle politics. I just find it amazing that we — I was there for, I think it was an hour and 20 minutes. It felt like five hours. José Andrés was next to me, the chef, and he, during the immigration point, again, we all were just apoplectic, but respectful. And what we see here, once again, is the effort to divide. We should be talking about how we’re going to come together around health care. We should be talking about — he talked about a[n] ‘economic miracle,’ talk to the people who are working two and three jobs, struggling to make ends meet. They haven’t gotten a real raise in years because real wage growth has been stagnant. People are working harder and falling behind. And so, he uses dog-whistle politics, socialism. He uses immigration, and the border talk, the caravans are coming, to distract us from the culture of corruption that is there. And then he — in a Nixonian way, says no investigations. That’s the Donald Trump that we saw in the campaign, that’s the Donald Trump we’ve seen for two years, and frankly, that’s a preview of his closing argument in 2020.”

Perez also responded to President Trump’s remarks on Virginia’s abortion bill by stating, “The bill they’re talking about in Virginia is about what happens when a mother’s life is in danger. That’s that bill. But, again, misstate the facts, dog-whistle politics. Donald Trump at his worst. But, again, you know, one sentence on pre-existing conditions.”

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