President Trump boasted about his record on the economy and doubled down on his harsh immigration policies during his State of the Union address before Congress Tuesday night. At 1 hour and 48 minutes, it was the longest State of the Union in recent history. President Trump ignored the challenges people are facing with the economy, and instead touted the stock market and lower gas prices. Before Trump’s speech, Democratic congressmember Al Green of Texas held up a sign that read, “Black people aren’t apes,” referring to President Trump posting a racist video depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes. Congressmember Green was removed from the chamber. During the speech, President Trump repeatedly referred to immigrants as “illegal aliens” and commanded lawmakers to stand up if they agreed with his violent immigration crackdown. Democratic lawmakers refused. After Republican applause, Minnesota congressmember Ilhan Omar shouted at President Trump, accusing him of killing U.S. citizens with his immigration policies.
Ilhan Omar: You’re the murderer! You have killed Americans
Trump: “They’re blocking the removal of these people out of our country, and you should be ashamed of yourselves.”
Ilhan Omar: “You should be ashamed.”
That was congressmember Ilhan Omar shouting “You’re the murderer! You have killed Americans.”
After the speech, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer, gave the Democrats’ response. She criticized President Trump for the cost of living and for his attacks on immigrants.
Abigail Spanberger: “They have ripped nursing mothers away from their babies. They have sent children, a little boy in a blue bunny hat, children, to far off detention centers. And they have killed American citizens in our streets. And they have done it all with their faces masked from accountability.”
Roughly half of all democratic lawmakers skipped the State of the Union address last night, as well as a majority of the Supreme Court. Several Democratic lawmakers attended a “People’s State of the Union” at the National Mall, including Senators Chris Murphy, Chris van Hollen, and Ruben Gallego. This is Senator Murphy.
Chris Murphy: “The true State of the Union is this this union is in crisis right now. Our cities are under attack by lawless law enforcement. Our democracy is wilting under ceaseless attack from a president who wants to be a despot. Millions of Americans are losing their health care because the president has chosen corruption to pad the pockets of his billionaire friends instead of helping average Americans. You’re not going to hear any of that in that speech tonight.”
We’ll have more on Trump’s state of the union after headlines and get responses from Democratic Congressmembers Summer Lee and Adelita Grijalva.
