President Donald Trump delivered an aggressive State of the Union address on Tuesday, celebrating the success of his administration, while Democrats visibly squirmed in their seats and even vocally protested his agenda.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi registered her outrage at the conclusion by tearing up her copy of the speech at the end of the address.
“Our borders are secure, our families are flourishing, our values are renewed, our pride is restored, and for all of these reasons, I say to the people of our great country and members of Congress, T\the state of our union is stronger than ever before,” Trump said.
The president kicked off his speech with a detailed list of good economic news, which inspired Republicans to leap to their feet, cheering and applauding, while Democrats remained seated as he spoke about historically low unemployment, rising wages, and economic optimism.
“In just three short years we have shattered the mentality of American decline and we have rejected the downsizing of America’s destiny,” he said.
Democrats vocally protested the president when he compared the economic record under his administration to that of former President Barack Obama:
In eight years under the last administration, over 300,000 working-age people dropped out of the workforce. In just three years of my administration, 3.5 million working-age people have joined the workforce.
The president boldly addressed highly partisan issues, promising to protect the Second Amendment and unborn babies, fight radical Islamic terrorism, and deport illegal immigrants.
“Members of Congress, we must never forget that the only victories that matter in Washington are victories that deliver for the American people,” he said.
At one point, the president detailed the tragic stories of victims of criminal illegal immigrants who were allowed to stay in the country because of sanctuary city laws.
Trump also touted his successful achievements on trade, celebrating the successful USMCA trade deal replacing NAFTA.
“Unlike so many before me, I keep my promises, we did our job,” he said.
Trump defended his record on health insurance, noting that health insurance plans had skyrocketed in the previous administration and that he had signed an executive order requiring price transparency. He also called for bipartisan support of Sen. Chuck Grassley’s effort in the Senate to reduce prescription drugs prices.
“Get a bill to my desk, and I will sign it,” Trump said.
In response, House Democrats protested and chanted HR3, putting their fingers in the air to highlight their own bill to reduce drug costs.
Democrats vocally protested when the president warned that 132 members of Congress had supported the bill to raid Medicare in order to give illegal aliens free healthcare.
“If forcing American taxpayers to provide unlimited free healthcare to illegal aliens sounds fair to you, then stand with the radical left,” he said.
Many Democrats were also angered that talk radio legend Rush Limbaugh was welcomed to the speech and the president surprised him by awarding him a Presidential Medal of Freedom, which the first lady placed on his neck.
“Oh no,” some of them said aloud after the president’s announcement.
But both parties leaped to their feet when President Trump surprised military wife Amy Williams and her kids with the return of her husband, Sergeant First Class Townsend Williams, back from his fourth deployment to Afghanistan.
Republicans chanted “USA!” as the couple reunited, a surprise in the chamber.
That was one of the rare moments of bipartisanship demonstrated by Democrats in the chamber.
Trump threaded several other guests into his speech, highlighting the struggle of a man recovering from drug addiction to start his own business, a woman with a daughter who was born prematurely at just 21 weeks and six days but survived, and several members of the military.
Many of the guests in the president’s box received bipartisan applause, including Charles McGee, one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airmen of World War II; Carl and Marsha Mueller, the parents of Kayla Miller, who was tortured and killed by ISIS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi; and the surviving widow of Army Staff Sergeant Christopher Hake, who was killed in a roadside bomb attack launched by Iran’s Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani — who was eliminated by a drone strike at the beginning of the year at Trump’s orders.
Democrats joined Republicans in a standing ovation when the president mentioned the successful criminal justice reform bill, and some Democrats cheered the president’s mention of paid family leave.
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