HOBOKEN, NJ — At a news conference Monday morning about a federal grant to fight flooding in Hoboken, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez said he is concerned about the effects of extreme weather from ongoing climate change — a threat that President Donald Trump has downplayed, despite government scientists posting evidence on federal government webpages.
He said he looks forward to “the day when we can once again have a president in the White House and a majority in the Senate committed to combating climate change. Our children and our grandchildren deserve nothing less. In the meantime, we must do all we can to make sure New Jersey is ready for whatever Mother Nature throws our way.”
But after the conference, most of the questions for Menendez were about Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is emerging as a Democratic frontrunner to take on Trump in the presidential election in November.
Menendez didn’t hold back his criticism of Sanders’ economic policies and his record.
Menendez said he is concerned that Sanders wouldn’t have the funding for many of his ideas.
“You have to tell people how you’re going to pay for this stuff,” he said. “I am one of the authors of the Affordable Care Act. It wasn’t perfect law, but it brought millions into health care. But it was paid for. We’re already, because of President Trump, we are facing trillion-dollar deficits.”
He said Sanders will be more subject to criticism for his policies “in the garish light of a one-on-one opponent.”
Menendez, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign relations committee, also criticized Sanders’ record on immigration and referred to the diversity of his staff.
“Senator Sanders didn’t support comprehensive immigration reform when I was in the Senate as one of the leaders,” he said. “I get upset when I see that as the chair of the Budget Committee, he doesn’t have, generally speaking, as I understand, on his staff, Hispanic Americans, African Americans. When you have a chance to lead, you really show by example.”
Despite his concerns about the junior senator from Vermont, Menendez said he is more concerned about Trump winning a second term and the longtime ramifications of his actions.
“I believe the president has done harm both here at home and abroad,” he said. “As the senior Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, I can tell you, he has done harm abroad. I don’t think, however, he has done irrevocable harm. Am I worried that if he got elected to a second term, he will do irrecovable harm? Yes, I am. At the end of the day, beating President Trump is Job 1, not because I don’t like President Trump but because I love the country.”
He also said that he is concerned about the president’s influence over the U.S. Justice Department.
“I am concerned that, all of a sudden, we’re going to have a series of investigations and entities that supposedly did wrong by the president,” he said.
Menendez declined, as he has before, to endorse any of the Democrats for the nomination.