Amid the chaos in Iowa and President Trump’s expected acquittal today in his impeachment trial, Trump gave the annual State of the Union address Tuesday night. During his 78-minute speech, Trump made his case for re-election while touting the economy, trying to stoke fear and xenophobia about “criminal aliens,” and calling public schools “government” schools. A number of Democratic lawmakers protested his address. Michigan Congressmember Rashida Tlaib, Ohio Congressmember Tim Ryan, New Jersey Congressmember Bill Pascrell and Massachusetts Congressmember Seth Moulton all walked out of Trump’s speech. Others didn’t attend at all, including New York Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Massachusetts Congressmember Ayanna Pressley, Texas Congressmember Al Green, Georgia Congressmember Hank Johnson, Tennessee Congressmember Steve Cohen, Oregon Congressmember Earl Blumenauer, Florida Congressmember Frederica Wilson, Mississippi Congressmember Bennie Thompson, Illinois Congressmember Bobby Rush and California Congressmember Maxine Waters. Democratic congressmembers who did attend the speech also broke into chants of “H.R. 3” when Trump spoke about lowering drug prescription prices. H.R. 3 is a House-passed bill that would require Medicare to negotiate for lower prices on insulin and other life-saving medications. Trump refused to shake House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s hand. She later ripped up a copy of his speech after he finished speaking.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “It was a manifesto of mistruths.”
During Trump’s speech, the father of one of the victims of the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, was thrown out, after he shouted about his daughter Jaime’s death. Fred Guttenberg was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s guest at the State of the Union. He interrupted Trump’s speech when Trump touted his pro-gun positions. And Melania Trump bestowed the Medal of Freedom on right-wing radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who has spread racist conspiracy theories about former President Barack Obama, among other racist lies. We’ll have more on the State of the Union later in the broadcast.
