Democratic chairman: Trump most dangerous president in US history

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez has described Donald Trump as “the most dangerous” president in US history, calling for party unity to fight against him.

"We have the most dangerous president in American history and one of the most reactionary Congresses in American history," Perez said Saturday at the first national party gathering since his election in February.

His remarks come at the time when many critics say Trump’s warmongering policy toward North Korea has brought the US “to the brink of nuclear war.”

Last month, Pyongyang detonated its sixth - and the most powerful - nuclear bomb. Following that, Trump warned that the US would “totally destroy” North Korea if necessary.

Trump has also been widely criticized by many, including some of America's closest allies, for his refusal to certify the Iran nuclear agreement. Democrats have slammed the move as "a grave mistake" which risks provoking an unnecessary international crisis. 

In addition, critics say that Trump’s divisive rhetoric and policies against immigrants and minorities before and after his election have emboldened far-right groups and promoted hate crimes across the country.

Perez, the former Obama Cabinet official, blasted “a culture of corruption” that he said extended to Trump’s Cabinet, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

He warned against having internal fighting over party priorities and leadership, saying such ruckuses would distract from the ultimate goal which is to win more elections to stop Republicans’ domination in Washington.

Perez made the remarks at the time when there is a split over his appointments to little-known but influential party committees and the 75 at-large members of the DNC.

Perez and his aides promote his choices in a bid to make the DNC younger and more diverse, but the moves would also demote several prominent Democrats who supported Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton, both Democratic candidates running in the 2016 presidential primaries, and then backed Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison over Perez in the postelection race for party chairman.

During this week’s proceedings, he privately met with frustrated DNC members, even those he did not reappoint.

During his address on Saturday, he apologized publicly for not reaching out to all of those members before announcing his appointments, though he defended his overall objective.

“If someone ever asks you which wing of the party you belong to, tell ‘em you belong to the accomplishment wing of the Democratic Party,” he said, “because you’re trying to get s--- done. That’s what we’re trying to do here, folks. We’re trying to move the ball forward.”

Republicans, on the other hand, portrayed the DNC as incompetently discordant.

“The Democratic Party’s message of doom and gloom has left them leaderless and nearly extinct in most of the country,” said Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Ahrens.

“If Tom Perez wants his party to stick with that same failed strategy, Republicans will gladly keep working to help the middle class by cutting their taxes and fixing our broken health care system.”

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