The disaster that was Trump’s State of Union Address – Esme Peters
It has widely been agreed by most newspapers that Trump’s speech to congress this week was shocking to the point of unbelievable. The American site Vox’s headline was ‘It’s near impossible to explain the speech Trump just delivered, but here’s our best attempt’ and that that is what I am going to attempt for this week’s bubble – a recount of key moments from an event which needs to be seen to be believed.
The first moments of note were the rivalry between Nancy Pelosi (what an icon) and the President. After refusing her handshake she got revenge (as she usually does because she’s a legend) by ripping up her copy of his speech while still on the podium. It was an incredible moment and while she may have lost her impeachment proceedings it was a show of force while allowed her to remind the Republicans the power she holds within American politics. When asked by reporters why she did it she replied that it was the ‘courteous thing to do.’
Next the lies, and there were many. The guardian has described his lies as ‘untruths’ and it was indeed a speech worthy of Orwellian affiliations. In fact Trump made on average a false claim 2.5 minutes. He promised to protect patients with pre-existing conditions at the very moment his administration is in court trying to take those protections away, he claimed “our economy is the best it has ever been,” while the reality is unemployment rate is at a 50-year low (more jobs were created in Obama’s last 3 years as president then in the first 3 under Trump) and wages have risen. Another claim was that the ISIS territorial caliphate has been ‘100% destroyed’ whereas the truth is ISIS remains active in Syria and over half the land the Americans have taken from the terrorist organisation happened under Obama. As could’ve been predicted Trump used his address as a campaign opportunity and while his popular support is at an all time low for any president it can be safely said he will get re-elected due to the electoral college system.
Another moment which reporters have claimed to be such a bad move that even Trump of 3 years ago wouldn’t have dared it was to award the highest civilian honour (the presidential medal of freedom) to Rush Limbaugh. And for a bit of flavour of what this guy is like he wrote a song called ‘Barack the Magic Negro’ about President Obama and described a woman who wanted her university to alter its health insurance to cover contraception as a ‘slut’ and ‘prostitute’. He has given the award for his philanthropic work which is of course a legitimate reason to receive the honour however there are many other Americans doing great things for the world who don’t insult people every way they turn. Trumps eldest son Donald Trump Jr recently published a book titled Triggered which is all about ‘owning the libs’. The decision to award the medal to Rush was apart of this ‘owning the libs’ agenda, as Republican strategist Andrew Surabian tweeted, ‘Forcing a room full of Democrats to have to watch Rush Limbaugh receive the medal of honour is the greatest own the libs moment in American history and I loved every second of it.’
Now my personal favourite moment was the moment was the moment Fred Guttenberg shouted out in protest over Trump’s promise to protect the second amendment (the right to bear arms). He was then removed from the chamber by a police officer. Fred is the father of Jaime who was 14 years old when she and 16 others died in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He is now an activist against gun violence and was invited as a guest of Nancy Pelosi. He has apologised for the outburst but politicians and newspapers have hailed him the hero of the evening.
With some auditors saying America is the most divided it has ever been since the Vietnam war Trump’s state of union address did little to unite anyone over anything and was very much a taster for his evangelical christian voter base as to what legislation is yet to come. For some it was the stuff of horror movies and for others it was a political dream come true. I expect for many it will be the former and I recommend watching the speech highlights on youtube as were it not for the knowledge this is one of the most powerful men in the world it would almost be amusing.
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