Keller @ Large: Mass. Democratic Party Chairman Criticizes Gov. Baker
BOSTON (CBS) -- The head of the Democratic Party in the Bay State says the governor needs to speak up for the people of Massachusetts in the face of President Trump.
WBZ political analyst Jon Keller sat down with Gus Bickford, Chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party and long-time party activist this week.
Bickford said that, even though Gov. Charlie Baker refused to vote for and has broken with Trump over issues like the travel ban and health care reform, the governor "needs to stand up."
"You hear the Democrats across this state and the nation standing up to this president, he's a disaster," said Bickford. "We need some Republicans to join in on that, and Charlie Baker needs to do that. He needs to stop writing letters, he needs to stop 'being disappointed,' he needs to go down there and speak up for the people of Massachusetts and just say, 'This is unacceptable.'"
He says things like cuts to medical research funding and changes to healthcare could be devastating to the Commonwealth's budget and economy.
"We lost the China summit to Boston because of this president," he said.
Bickford said he wants Gov. Baker to speak out against the disturbing trends he said Trump's presidency has created.
"I speak to teachers, and they have students that ask, 'What do you do when you have a president that lies?' I have read about people who talk about disciplining students and they say, 'Well I'm just saying what the president says,'" Bickford said. "We've got the fourth estate, the media that is under attack by this president and I find [that] very dangerous."
Keller and Bickford also discussed health care, and compared Gov. Baker to Gov. Deval Patrick.
You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.