Tuesday, January 30th, President Trump gave his state of the union address to the nation, saying the state of the union was "strong." (Fun Fact: Gerald Ford is the only president in history to say the state of the union is "not good.") Trump went on to sound somewhat presidential throughout his outrageously long-winded address, one of the longest in history. This comes as a stark difference to the daily rhetoric citizens are accustomed to. But despite the talent of Trump's speech writer for being able to make even Donald Trump sound like an average politician for one night, the state of the union address left much to be desired. In fact, the words spoken by the president felt incredibly ironic when juxtaposed to his actions this first year in office.
The president commented on the many tragedies and horrors that have occurred since last January, including the horrific hurricanes and wildfires that ravaged many states. "To everyone still recovering in Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, California, and everywhere else, we are with you, we love you, and we will pull through together," Trump said. Upon hearing this, I immediately thought about the people of Puerto Rico, who are still living in the dark with little food or fresh water, four months after the hurricane. Not only did Trump's statement, "we are with you," and "we will pull through together," feel wrong, it felt like a lie. The people of Puerto Rico have been suffering and are getting little to no additional government help. For Trump to claim he "is with" Puerto Rico was nothing more than a lie. Being "with them" means providing additional funds and aid to help the citizens reclaim their lives; being "with them" means allowing FEMA to stay until there are resources available to the citizens; being "with them" means doing more than just acknowledging that the people of Puerto Rico are suffering.
Trump also commented briefly on the tragedy in Las Vegas last October, when 59 people were killed at the hands of a man with a gun. "We saw strangers shielding strangers from a hail of gunfire on the Las Vegas strip." Not only was just one short sentence dedicated to the victims of this senseless crime, Trump never once mentioned a word about reforming gun laws. One might think that after the deadliest year for mass shootings in modern history, the president and his administration would come up with a plan to end gun violence, or at least impose sanctions to limit who owns a gun and what they can do with that firearm.
The state of the union address also included "motivation" for those watching at home. "So to every citizen watching at home tonight, no matter where you have been, or where you come from, this is your time," Trump said. How great, Trump finally acknowledged that we are all Americans, no matter our background, right? Wrong. Not even minutes later, Trump continued his history of harsh comments about immigrants to the United States. His claims that open borders were the reason for gang activity and drug presence in many communities does not sound accepting of all nationalities. Trump even talked about how immigrants are the reason for the two terrorist attacks in New York in 2017. Listening to just the sentiment that no matter where you've been or where you're from, it's your time, really does sound encouraging. But understanding the president's past stance on immigrants, he was speaking empty words.
As much as I wish the state of the union marked "a new American moment," as Trump called it, it most certainly did not. The call for more bipartisanship fell flat amidst the contradictory claims, and the distracting clapping by the president, for the president. Though Trump claims to have broken many records his first year in office, it seems the only record he may have truly broken was the time for longest state of the union address- what an accomplisment.
