Donald Trump is a fraud. Listening to him talk about how he's going to put American first again, he's spent his entire career putting his own profits first.
— Tom Perez
We're at our best when we put hope in front of fear.
I'm a proud Dominican American. My folks always taught me that it's important to keep the ladder down and that to whom much is given, much is expected. That's why I have pursued a career in public service. I can't think of a better way to give back what this nation gave to us than to try to make sure that opportunity exists for everyone.
The Democratic Party and DNC have to be a very conspicuous face of the opposition to Donald Trump and all his divisiveness. At the same time, we have to communicate our, I think, positive and inclusive message to everyone.
If Donald Trump wants to raise the minimum wage to $15, yes, I will work with Donald Trump.
Donald Trump is anathema to America.
You can't show up at a church every 4 October and say, 'Vote for me,' and call that persuasion.
I've said that we need to elect Democrats from the school board to the Senate.
Our message in rural America is just as powerful as it is in urban America. But because we haven't been a physical presence there in any sustained way, we have a lot of voters there who no longer believe that the Democratic Party is working for them.
Michigan is a state we should have won in 2016, and we didn't, and I want to understand why.
When you recruit good candidates and you have a good message and you have energy and organization and partnership, you always have a fighting chance.
Federal government has been a gateway to the middle class for people of color for generations.
You're more likely to see someone fatally struck by lightning than witness a case of in-person voter fraud.
Our economic future and our energy future are one in the same, and it's a future America can't shrink from. We must shape it, just as we've always done. We have to protect our planet from the threat of climate change and ensure that workers have the skills to compete for good middle-class jobs.
Growing up in Buffalo, I saw shuttered factories that once housed thousands of steel manufacturing jobs. I remember the hollowing-out of the middle class in our community. I witnessed hope turn to hardship as a once-thriving city reckoned with a fast-changing world.
Responding to a natural disaster is a complex problem.
As long as we're united, and as long as we continue to organize, invest, and lead with our values, we'll be unstoppable.
I happen to think Donald Trump is crazy, but that's not an economic message.
I've memorized 'Hamilton.'
When my grandchildren ask, 'Where were you when Donald Trump took a sledgehammer to Lady Liberty?' I want to make sure I can tell them I was there protecting America.
If Donald Trump wants to pass comprehensive immigration reform, I will work with Donald Trump.
I think our big tent is our greatest strength.
Trust is not something that's given because you win an election; it's something you have to earn.
Organizing has to be a 12-month endeavor.
We believe that health care is a right, not a privilege.
We're the party that's fought for increased wages, fought for the union movement, fought to make sure that collective bargaining is not eviscerated, it's strengthened. And when we communicate those messages, we succeed.
You can't eat cake and lose weight.
If you're going to be a big tent party as we are, and you're going to help elect democrats who have generated support in their communities... the will of those voters is the will that we must respect.
When you cut investments in worker training, you're cutting investments in the middle class.
As Republicans try to trample on our most sacred freedoms, Democrats will do everything we can to end discrimination and protect the one right that preserves all others - the right to vote.
I remember a good friend of mine whose father worked at Bethlehem Steel for 40 years with just a high school degree. That was a remarkable pathway to prosperity that sustained generations of working families.
There is no price tag on an American life - whether it's in Florida, Texas, or Puerto Rico.
The 3.5 million people in Puerto Rico are American citizens. They deserve fair and equal treatment as Americans.
Smart growth is having the courage to say yes and having the courage to say no.
Our message has been muddled, especially in 2016. Voters in Ohio heard from Trump, 'I'm going to save your coal jobs.' And while that was a lie, what it told them is, 'I'm going to feel your pain.' What they heard from the Democratic side was, 'Vote for us because Donald Trump is crazy.'
We need bold leadership to bring America back to its first principles of diversity inclusion and opportunity for everyone in every ZIP Code, and music is that vehicle to summon our better angels. Music is that vehicle and always has been a vehicle to challenge us to build a better America.
Joe Arpaio built a wall. His was a wall of distrust, and when you don't have the trust of the community, you don't have anything. He claimed to be a law-and-order sheriff, but he was really lawlessness and disorder.
If Donald Trump wants to acknowledge that we have a pay gap for women and we need to address it, I would work with Donald Trump.
I met a person on my rural tour in northwest Wisconsin who said to me, 'I feel politically homeless.' And we need to re-engage that person.
Donald Trump's vision of America, his nativist vision of America, his fear mongering - that's what we have to fight.
Our message of opportunity and inclusion is, I think, a very powerful message that does indeed speak to Americans, but we've got to do a better job of listening.
Donald Trump has shown no interest in working toward increasing the minimum wage, no interest in doing anything but immigrant baiting, no interest in doing anything but filling the swamp with a band of billionaires who are simply trying to help the wealthy.
We're the party that has fought for Medicare. We're the party that has fought for Social Security. The Republicans have tried to privatize Social Security and voucherize Medicare.
Infrastructure done right can help working people; infrastructure done wrong is just more money for private equity.
I am proud of our diversity, and when you attack the federal workforce, you are having significant impact on women - many of whom are single moms working to support their family - and you're having a significant impact on communities of color.
Budgets are moral documents. They reflect the values of any government and when you're compromising clean air, clean water, and lead, you're making a statement about communities you don't care about.
Every president since Nixon has embraced a policy of 'self-determination without termination' - the idea that Native Americans are best equipped to govern themselves. Trump is breaking with this position.
What you learn growing up in a place like Buffalo is that your job isn't just your paycheck, it's your identity. It doesn't just give you dollars, it gives you dignity.
It's not only inhumane to treat Puerto Ricans as second-class citizens. It's deeply un-American.
The Democratic Party has learned from the terrible mistakes of the past. Our platform requires that we honor, fulfill, and strengthen the federal government's trust responsibility to American Indians. We take this responsibility seriously.
