I watched President Trump's nearly 90 minute SOTU address to both Houses of Congress this evening and here are ten of my observations.
1. President Trump began his remarks by paying tribute to three D-Day veterans present in the gallery as this year marks the 75th anniversary of that campaign. It was all very nice, but less than six months removed from the death of John McCain I couldn't help but wonder what he thinks of WWII veterans who were captured.
2. "We must reject the politics of revenge, resistance and retribution," Trump proclaimed. This coming from the master of revenge, resistance and retribution. In truth, Trump only rejects the politics of revenge, resistance and retribution when it is directed against him.
3. Trump told an outright whopper when he claimed America is experiencing an "unprecedented economic boom":
In just over two years since the election, we have launched an unprecedented economic boom, a boom that has rarely been seen before. There has been nothing like it. We have created 5.3 million new jobs, and importantly, added 600,000 new manufacturing jobs, something which almost everyone said was impossible to do, but the fact is, we are just getting started.
In fact, the economy is more or less chugging along as it did during most of this decade under President Obama's watch. The job growth which occurred under Obama's watch would have occurred had we elected McCain or Mitt Romney and the job growth we are experiencing now would have occurred had we elected Hillary Clinton. It remains to be seen if America will experience the kind of job growth which occurred under President Reagan in the 1980's or President Clinton in the 1990's. President Trump isn't the first President to tell a whopper and he won't be the last. But his propensity for falsehoods is such that one must take much of what he says with a barrel full of salt rather than the gospel truth.
4. The sequencing of Trump's remarks was also interesting. Trump spent a great deal of time touting sentencing reform "that have wrongly and disproportionately harmed the African-American community" before launching into a tirade about illegal immigration. Even if President Trump doesn't get a wall, it is clear to me that he is trying to drive a wedge between the African-American and Latino communities.
5. Trump did have a few warm and fuzzy moments such as when drew attention to a Grace Eline, a 10-year old girl diagnosed with childhood cancer sitting in the gallery next to First Lady Melania Trump. President Trump then called on Congress to fund childhood cancer research in the amount of $500 million over the next 10 years.
Of course, Trump is not the first President to address cancer. In the 2016 SOTU, President Obama pledged to cure cancer "once and for all." In the 1971 SOTU, President Nixon pledged $100 million (roughly $620 million in 2019) "to launch an intensive campaign to find a cure for cancer." I'm afraid Trump won't be the last President to speak of cancer during at SOTU address.
6. President Trump announced he would be meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un in Vietnam on February 27th & 28th and further disclosed the United States was in talks with the Taliban to end the War in Afghanistan. If President Obama had announced either of these things during a SOTU address, Republicans and conservative talk radio would be crying treason. Tonight, Republicans raised nary a peep of dissent.
7. Trump did have some moments as when he gave a shoutout to the record number of women in Congress (many of whom were wearing white in protest of policies) and they stood up, cheered and chanted "U.S.A!!! U.S.A.!!!" including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. I'm sure they will say it was an act of defiance, but would they have stood if he hadn't made the gesture?
8. I also commend the President for making anti-Semitism a focus of his speech. Trump spoke about the shooting at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue and paid tribute to Timothy Matson, a police officer shot seven times but who managed to be in attendance. Trump also paid tribute to Holocaust survivors Judah Samet and Joshua Kaufman. It was Samet's 81st birthday and many members of Congress spontaneously sang "Happy Birthday" to him. Seated beside Kaufman was D-Day veteran Herman Zeitchik who would help liberate him from Dachau.
There are many reasons to criticize Trump especially his hostility to people of Hispanic origin. However, Trump has also been accused of anti-Semitism and no anti-Semite could have made those remarks. If only he extended his equanimity to all people.
9. The speech clocked in at nearly 90 minutes and despite some nice moments the evening was getting long. It was especially long when he delivered this passage:
Here tonight, we have legislators from across this magnificent republic. You have come from the rocky shores of Maine and the volcanic peaks of Hawaii, from the snowy woods of Wisconsin and the red deserts of Arizona, from the green farms of Kentucky and the golden beaches of California
For a moment there, I thought he was going to bring out a guitar and sing "This Land Is Your Land."
Woody Guthrie would have rolled over in his grave.
10. Overall, the speech exceeded my expectations. Trump was softer than I am accustomed. But whatever good that might come out of it for Trump will be short-lived at best. First, many Democrats didn't bother to hear his speech preferring to wait for Stacey Abrams to give her SOTU response. So Trump didn't change many minds. Second, Trump will invariably tweet something stupid in the next 48 to 72 hours to make everyone forget any kind words he might have had. His call to transcend our differences will ring as hollow as his claims about the American economy. In a week's time, no one will remember a word he said tonight.
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