Watch: Escobar, in Dems’ Spanish rebuttal to Trump’s State of the Union, says ‘no one is above the law’

WASHINGTON – Tasked with giving Democrats’ Spanish-language response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, El Paso Rep. Veronica Escobar didn’t avoid the elephant in the room: impeachment.

“Nadie está por encima de la ley,” she said, which translates to “No one is above the law.”

While the freshman Democrat didn’t dwell on impeachment in her 10-minute rebuttal – which came after Trump didn’t mention the trial at all in his speech – she said “Democrats will continue to fight for truth” even if the GOP-run Senate acquits Trump on Wednesday as expected.

“This is a tragic moment, and Congress must defend our republic,” Escobar said, flanked by American and Texas flags as she spoke from a medical clinic in El Paso’s Segundo Barrio.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, in the Democrats’ English-language response, struck a similar note on impeachment, saying that “there are some things each of us — no matter our party — should demand: The truth matters. Facts matter. And no one should be above the law.”

“It’s not what those senators say,” she said. “Tomorrow, it’s what they do that matters.”

But Escobar and Whitmer otherwise kept the focus on policy.

In El Paso, Escobar spoke at length about health care, accusing Republicans of “actively fighting to dismantle” health benefits and protections afforded by Obamacare. She said Trump’s economic policies have “created inequality,” leaving many businesses and working families behind.

She went after Trump on immigration – an area where they had clashed before.

Just last year, Trump had singled out El Paso in his State of the Union address, citing the city as evidence that border “walls work and walls save lives.” He said El Paso “used to have extremely high rates of crime” but became safer with a “powerful barrier in place.”

In fact, El Paso was already one of America’s safest cities before a border barrier went up in the mid-2000s.

Escobar was among the Texas Democrats at that time to fume about what she called Trump’s “misinformation campaign.” She said that “those kind of lies are very hurtful and very harmful” and that El Paso is a “very vibrant and safe community.”

On Tuesday, the congresswoman, one of the first two Latinas elected to Congress from Texas, didn’t rehash that specific debate.

But she did criticize Trump’s immigration policy more broadly, saying the president’s treatment of asylum seekers, migrant children and so-called “Dreamers” represents “policies none of us ever imagined would happen in America in our lifetime.”

“It is up to all of us – in the face of one of the most challenging times in history – to reflect the dignity, grace of Lady Liberty and the values of America,” she said.

Escobar also recalled last year’s El Paso shooting in which a gunman killed 22 people after posting an anti-immigrant screed.

“A domestic terrorist confessed to driving over 10 hours to target Mexicans and immigrants,” she said. “Just before he began his killing spree, he posted his views online and used hateful language like the very words used by President Trump to describe immigrants and Latinos.”

She continued: “That day, the killer took 22 innocent lives, injured dozens, and broke all of our hearts.”