Jake Auchincloss Slams ‘Hard Left’ and ‘Extreme Right’ In Speech To Business Leaders

Printed from: https://newbostonpost.com/2022/09/21/jake-auchincloss-slams-hard-left-and-extreme-right-in-speech-to-business-leaders/

U.S. Representative Jake Auchincloss (D-Newton) is not a fan of what he views as the political extremes in the United States.

Speaking to the New England Council last week, Auchincloss, who represents the Massachusetts Fourth Congressional District, ripped into both the “hard left” and the “extreme right,”  saying that the rise of both is problematic for the United States. 

“The average American voter is not buying what the hard-left or the extreme right is selling,” Auchincloss said during the speech Tuesday, September 13 at the Hampshire House restaurant in Boston. “They want to hear about opportunity, not about grievance. The average American voter has common sense and decency. They don’t think our differences as a people are too great to bridge. And the average American voter does not want Washington D.C. to make America great again. They want us to make politics boring again, to unleash entrepreneurs to build big things because capitalism is how we compete, to empower mayors to solve hard problems because federalism is how we govern, to let people get on with our lives because freedom is how we define ourselves.”

Auchincloss used his speech to rip into right-wing authoritarians and socialists alike. He also said that he is willing to work with and talk to a wide variety of people about his opposition to what he views as two political extremes.

“We have to sharpen our arguments to cut through the noise that has exhausted the majority because the carnival barkers for strongman rule or socialism are getting louder,” he said. “We need to make our case directly to voters not by scolding them on their alleged shortcomings, but by enlisting them in our cause, and I will go everywhere to talk to everyone.”

“I go on Fox News to defend Roe and to argue for an assault weapons ban because the GOP has left the mainstream on these issues,” he added. “Thirty years ago, Republican senators from Kansas and Indiana voted to ban assault weapons. Imagine that today. And the fact that it’s unimaginable reflects on the GOP, not the United States. I go on MSNBC to defend the president for not expanding the Supreme Court. I go on Twitter to talk about stablecoins.”

While Auchincloss didn’t blast any of his fellow Democrats by name, he said that the “flanks” of the two major parties should not be the ones in charge.

“I will continue to go everywhere to talk to everyone because we can’t allow the flanks of each party to control the debate,” Auchincloss said. “The hard left needs to hear loud and clear that we’re not gonna open our jails or close our schools and that patriotism is a yes/and endeavor:  Yes we can celebrate our heroes as a country, from Harriet Tubman to Teddy Roosevelt, and we can celebrate the progress we have made as a country. We’re the greatest country in the world. The extreme right needs to hear loud and clear that we’re not gonna stay the greatest country in the world without free and fair elections. And the Big Lie from the GOP is a betrayal of the United States. The GOP has gotten lost in its thicket of lies. It has lost itself and it is losing the center. The exhausted majority is there to be won, but Democrats have to go win it.”

Founded in 1925, the New England Council is “a non-partisan alliance of businesses, academic and health institutions, and public and private organizations throughout New England formed to promote economic growth and a high quality of life in the New England region,” according to its web site

Auchincloss is running unopposed this upcoming November.

The entire speech Auchincloss gave and the question-and-answer session that followed is available below:

 

 

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