A.G. Tong explains effort to block Trump directives with lawsuits

SHARON — Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said he’s been compelled to sue President Donald Trump because “he’s declared war on everything we care about.” He’s filed suits 33 times to date.

Tong was speaking Saturday, Sept. 27, at a meeting of the Democratic Coalition of Northwest Connecticut at the home of Liz Piel. He began by explaining the structure of the state’s government and its sovereignty. “We get to live the way we want to live. We’ve formed a government expressly through a state constitution. We’re asserting our sovereignty now and delegate only limited powers to the federal government.”

But, he noted, in the world of Trump, that can be extremely dangerous. He said Connecticut is compliant with federal law, “but we don’t have to be nice about it.”

The need to bring suits, said Tong, is not OK since it involves spending resources and time, but it’s necessary to protect such things as healthcare, children, roads and bridges. He touched on the positions promoted by Trump and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy, Jr., who want to eliminate teaching young people about sex and healthy human relationships, and the erasure of DEI.

“They want us to deny who we are,” Tong said.

“They’re not making us less diverse,” he said. “You have a Chinese-American A.G., for Christ’s sake,” he said, eliciting laughter from the crowd. “They’re not stopping us from hiring immigrant families. America runs on Dunkin’ Donuts and immigrants. They’re not stopping us from supporting LGBTQ+.”

As the first-born American citizen in his family, Tong has taken the lead on such matters as birthright. “The 14th Amendment of the Constitution says I’m a citizen. We’ve had success in working on that and on tariffs. I feel good about that. We’ve got him pretty boxed in.”

He said the attorneys general throughout the country are in constant communication and he works closely with many of them. “Connecticut is strong and mighty, but it helps to have California and New York at your back,” he said.

Asked by an audience member what gives him hope in these dark times, Tong responded, “It’s about a lot of people being heard and how strong the American people can be. We’re not just the sovereign people of Connecticut. We’re one of 13 who stood up to the original tyrant.”

But he decried, “Where are the young people?” He laments their lack of involvement and attachment to social media, which he labeled “a poison they consume every day.”

Tong’s message to the coalition members was strong. “We have prevailed before and if Donald Trump thinks he can send troops to Connecticut, he’ll have to come through me and others. I’m not afraid of him.”