Trump tried to set a trap for Democrats when he asked them to affirm that the government’s duty was to protect American citizens and not undocumented immigrants.
Democrats stood for the Constitution, but not for Trump.
When they sat in their seats in the face of Trump’s false equivalence, Trump waved his arm to display the visual he had created — more division — and grinned.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer defended Democrats for refusing to stand.
“We agree we need to protect Americans,” Schumer told CNN on Wednesday. “He’s not. By his reckless ICE agency in Minnesota, two Americans were killed. Americans are being pulled out of their cars and beaten. Americans’ houses, the doors are being knocked down, you know, without a warrant.”
“No other police department in America run by Americans has done what ICE has done,” he said. “So, yes, we want to protect Americans. He’s not doing it. And that’s why the American people are against what ICE is doing. So it was legitimate and right not to stand.”
The New York Times described Trump’s SOTU as “part game show, part cage match,” which could also describe his preference of governing.
It was a night of stunts and Trump’s chosen special guests.
Olympic hockey champions were paraded out as special patriots, and elected Democrats were targeted as “sick” unpatriotic cheaters.
There was barely any mention of Trump’s foreign policy as there was a year ago when the bravado of overtaking the Panama Canal and Greenland weighed heavy on Trump’s brain.
There was no mention of overtaking Venezuela’s leader other than the mention of the word “oil” which sent Republicans into a clapping frenzy, like seals. Nor was there any mention of being on the verge of war with Iran.
Four Supreme Court Justices listened quietly to the speech, while Trump complained about their “very unfortunate ruling,” as if they had taken away his favorite toy.
When Trump’s political production ended, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. turned to three of the other Supremes and gave a curt little nod. They turned on their heels and filed out, one by one, right past the president as he leaned forward and started shaking hands.