Wyandotte, Michigan - Democrats launched a scathing response to President Donald Trump's address to Congress, led by first-term Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin.

Slotkin delivered the Democrat's official response to Trump's address to Congress from Wyandotte, Michigan, on Tuesday night. She laced her speech with messages of hope amid takedowns of Trump's domestic agenda and foreign policy.

In particular, she blasted Trump's handling of the Ukraine war and accused the Republican of "cozying up to dictators like Vladimir Putin," while comparing him unfavorably to the late former President Ronald Reagan.

Slotkin pleaded with the American people to not "tune out" of politics out of sheer exhaustion.

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"I've seen democracies flicker out," she said. "I've seen what life is like when a government is rigged."

"You can’t open a business without paying off a corrupt official. You can’t criticize the guys in charge without getting a knock on the door in the middle of the night."

Warning that Trump's administration is "going to make you pay," the 48-year-old senator criticized the involvement of unelected tech billionaire Elon Musk in the US government.

While she agreed that cuts needed to be made and that government waste is a real issue, she warned: "Change doesn't need to be chaotic or make us less safe."

Slotkin insisted that Trump's policies will make life more expensive for Americans, and poverty will become increasingly extreme as Musk takes a sledgehammer to social security and Trump gives "an unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friends."

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"He's on the hunt to find trillions of dollars to pass along to the wealthiest of America," Slotkin said. "And to do that, he's going to make you pay in every part of your life. Grocery and home prices are going up, not down, and he hasn't laid out a plan on either of those."

"His tariffs on allies like Canada will raise prices on energy, lumber, and cars, and start a trade war that will hurt manufacturing and farmers," she warned.

"Your premiums and prescriptions will cost more because the math on his proposals doesn’t work without him going after your health care."

"The national debt is going up, not down, and if he's not careful he could walk us right into a recession."

"In order to pay for his plan, he could very well come after your retirement, the social security, Medicare, and VA benefits you worked your whole life to earn."