Earlier today a compilation of at least 22 Senate Democrats released recorded videos in which they are all using an identical script to speak out against the Trump administration. VTGOP Chairman Paul Dame issued the following statement:

“When I first saw that three US Senate Democrat leaders were issuing the same exact scripted statement - I saw it as a slightly embarrassing “gotcha” for Democrats who were taking short cuts on social media. In the first round I was actually slightly relieved to see that neither of Vermont’s Senators had joined in on the group think. Authenticity is everything in Vermont, and I imagined that what might fine for the rest of DC Democrats would have made our own Senators feel uncomfortable, and rightly so.”

“But as the list expanded, I was embarrassed for Senator Welch and his team for participating in this stunt because it is a betrayal of what Vermonters care most about - being true to yourself and the voters. The fact that this happened on Town Meeting Day - a day in which we celebrate the freedom of individual expression and the importance of personalized communications - while many of our Republican House and Senate Members are driving across their respective districts to meet personally with Town Meetings as small as 25 to 30 people shows just how much Senator Welch has allowed Washington to change him. In participating in this social media stunt, he has demonstrated that he is just going along with what every other Democrat does. He is just a product of his political party, and he is no longer the individual Vermonter that he was when he served in Montpelier.”

Senator Welch’s video was posted to his Instagram account here