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AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, Democracynow.org, the War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman. In the longest State of the Union in recent history, President Trump hailed his economic record over the past year, claiming the country is entering a golden age. But resistance to his presidency keeps growing. In one of the most heated moments, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota shouted out to Trump, “You have killed Americans.” Omar represents Minneapolis where federal immigration agents recently fatally shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Omar’s remarks came as President Trump launched an attack on immigrants.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support. The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.
PEOPLE: [cheers and applause]
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Isn’t that a shame? You should be ashamed of yourself not standing up! You should be ashamed of yourself.
PEOPLE: [overlapping shouts]
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: That is why I’m also asking you to end—
REP. ILHAN OMAR: You have killed Americans!
PEOPLE: [overlapping shouts]
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: —deadly sanctuary cities that protect the criminals—
REP. ILHAN OMAR: You have killed Americans!
PEOPLE: [overlapping shouts]
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: —and enact serious penalties—
REP. ILHAN OMAR: You have killed Americans!
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: —for public officials who block the of removal of—
REP. ILHAN OMAR: You have killed Americans!
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: —criminal aliens, in many cases drug lords, murderers, all over our country.
PEOPLE: [overlapping shouts]
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: They are blocking the removal of these people out of our country and you should be ashamed of yourself.
PEOPLE: [cheers and applause]
PEOPLE: USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!
At another point in his State of the Union, President Trump lashed out at Democrats and accused them of trying to destroy the country.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Look! Nobody stands up. These people are crazy, I’m telling you. They’re crazy!
PEOPLE: [overlapping shouts]
PEOPLE: [applause]
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Amazing. Incredible.
PERSON: Epstein files!
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Boy, oh boy. We’re lucky we have a country. With people like this, Democrats are destroying our country but we have stopped it just in the nick of time, didn’t we?
PEOPLE: [applause]
AMY GOODMAN: Earlier in the evening, Democratic Congressmember Al Green of Texas was removed from the chamber after he held up a sign that read “Black People Aren’t Apes.” He spoke to reporters after his removal.
REP. AL GREEN: I attended the State of the Union address knowing that the president would come in and that he would have to pass by me to get to the podium. And I wanted him to know that portraying President Obama and First Lady Obama as members of the primary family is not only unacceptable, it is something that is deplorable and something that we will not tolerate. At least I will not. And I wanted him to get close to someone who could tell him to his face. And I did. And judging from the look on his face as he turned away quickly, he was at a moment of vulnerability because he is not confronted by people who are willing to speak truth to him.
AMY GOODMAN: Many Democratic lawmakers boycotted Trump’s address and took part in a People’s State of the Union at the National Mall. This is Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen.
SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN: We have a president who seeks not to build a more perfect union but one who wants to tear it down. And a president who said he would stop wars, who said he would stop wars but instead is responsible for war crimes and as we speak is threatening more wars. We need to stop him. We are gathered here because we know that we cannot pretend that any of this is normal and that we will not and must not pretend that this is business as usual. We must get in the way of Donald Trump’s march toward fascism.
AMY GOODMAN: Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger, who is a former CIA officer, gave the Democrats’ official response to the State of the Union.
GOV. 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. Our president told us tonight that we are safer. Because these agents arrest mothers and detain children? Think about that. Our broken immigration system is something to be fixed, not an excuse for unaccountable agents to terrorize our communities.
AMY GOODMAN: Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger was speaking from the House of Burgesses chambers in historic Williamsburg, Virginia.
We will be dealing with the State of the Union throughout the show. More after the break.
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