The President of the United States was on television last night? Didnt you hear? Sure, you did! Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address was on just about every modern medium of communications known to mankind, except maybe Snapchat, actually. A difficult task, indeed, being charged with breaking down the hidden meanings, dog whistles and outright lies that fell so easily from the mouth of a man who doesnt appear to know the truth from a lie. I know, I know, objectivity is a must in our business. However, whats a person to do when the subject theyre tasked to study has already given you all the ammunition needed to snipe his sky high lies with precision.
Notable moments from Trump’s State of the Union address
President Trump spoke of a U.S. comeback but drew boos from Democrats when he spoke about immigration and tightening border security.
As I perused the reactions from mainstream media and likeminded constituents, it was obvious that the constituency to which he spoke did not include me. Of course, I already knew that.
He sounds so presidential read one comment on social media. I have more faith in America, now read another.
Trust, it was nearly impossible to let that float. However, everybody has rights, including the right to be stupid.
To everyone still recovering in Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, everywhere, we are with you, we love you, and we always will pull through together, always, the President said.
Taken at face value, that does sound like an overture for togetherness. But the truth says otherwise. According to NPR, 30 percent of Puerto Ricos population are still without electricity. Also, FEMA recently announced it will stop distributing food and water in cities but will instead provide aid to nonprofit groups. (Update: FEMA has since said the announcement to cease aid to Puerto Rico was an error. What a coincidence, huh?)
Tonight, I call upon on all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people. This is really the key. These are the people we were elected to serve, he later stated.
Fact-checking Trump’s State of the Union claims
CNN’s Tom Foreman fact-checks several claims made by President Trump during his first State of the Union address.
Funny he should say that when he has done more to divide the country than just about any president since Nixon. Failure to directly call out white nationalist terrorists, equating nonviolent protest with terrorism, banning immigrants based on religion, and deporting people who have lived most of their lives in this country, paints him as a bigot and his words paint him as a liar. Sorry, false truthteller. There, is that better?
Some of us get so caught up on civility, decorum and how things sound, yet the man occupying the Oval Office clearly has no such compunctions. The Democrats fear of alienating the Trump base, which didnt vote for them and rarely does, has armored the president against direct attack from the left. You ever notice why the sisters (Kamala Harris and Maxine Waters) are doing most of the criticizing in the media?
So, for the most part, they dont attack him. But, according to the facts, the American people strongly disapprove of him, 40 percent. NPR reports this to be the lowest overall approval rating in modern history. While he continues to pat himself on the back for things he hasn’t accomplished.
Donald J. Trump on Twitter
Our economy is better than it has been in many decades. Businesses are coming back to America like never before. Chrysler, as an example, is leaving Mexico and coming back to the USA. Unemployment is nearing record lows. We are on the right track!
Additionally, another poll states Americans believe he has further divided the country since being elected by a 61 percent to 32 percent margin.
Adding insult to festering insult, the president wants to take credit for a unemployment downward swing that was actually already taking place. The 2.4 million jobs hes referring to, many were tallied in November and December 2016, during Obamas administration.
He also wants to take credit for a 2.5 percent increase in wages. However, according to the National Economic Council, that number is barely ahead of inflation. However, there had been no wage growth in the U.S. for five years. While likeminded constituents may want to give the credit for that raise on corporate tax cuts, but only a very small number of American businesses have passed this money to worker wages.
Unemployment claims have hit a 45-year low.
Yes, unemployment is at a 45-year low. No, Trump had nothing to do with it. However, hes definitely acting like he did.
African-American unemployment stands at the lowest rate ever recorded. And Hispanic-American unemployment has also reached the lowest levels in history, he would later add.
Now, any logical person can tell you that Trump had absolutely nothing to do with black unemployment either way. But, again, hed like to. The black unemployment rate, once nearly 17 percent, now sits at 6.8. But, again, this positive downturn began under Obamas watch.
Domenico Montanaro on Twitter
6/6 OK, last one, but this from @BLS_gov with black unemployment laid over unemployment overall. Check when the trend began — been on a downward trajectory for 4 years.
Again, who is dude trying to fool? The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center reports that 65 percent of savings from his tax cut will go to the top 20 percent, while another 20 percent will go to the top 1 percent. Meanwhile, the bottom 60 percent of the country will see a tax increase.
Our massive tax cuts provide tremendous relief for the middle class and small business, to lower tax rates for hard-working Americans. We nearly doubled the standard deduction for everyone, stated the President.
We want every American to know the dignity of a hard day’s work. We want every child to be safe in their home at night. And we want every citizen to be proud of this land that we all love so much. We can lift our citizens from welfare to work, from dependence to independence, and from poverty to prosperity, said the President, whose entire life was handed to him by his father. Indeed, the rich dont know what its like to have to subsist on food from the government, and the middle class have been duped into believing these programs are actually a large part of the American budget. He wants to impose work requirements on SNAP benefits, but most people who receive SNAP already work!
Also, how thickheaded does one have to be to call for togetherness in one part of an overture, then go after some of our most vulnerable minorities just minutes later?
For decades, open borders have allowed drugs and gangs to pour into our most vulnerable communities. They have allowed millions of low-wage workers to compete for jobs and wages against the poorest Americans, said Trump.
Again, hes oversimplifying and citing no data to support his claim. All this border talk is racist and xenophobic. Especially when considering illegal border crossings are at their lowest point since 1971 and that tens thousands of deportees have zero criminal record and have been productive members of society.
Six members of the savage MS-13 gang have been charged with Kayla and Nisa’s murders. Many of these gang members took advantage of glaring loopholes in our laws to enter the country as illegal, unaccompanied, alien minors. And wound up in Kayla and Nisa’s high school, he later stated.
He rails against unaccompanied alien children coming from Central America as if theyre members of MS-13, but there are extensive reports stating how these children are far more likely to be victims of the gangs than members.
It seemed like the President told a lie, untruth or misinterpretation of the truth every two minutes. So much so that it became difficult to even watch. But I did. Full of hallow talk and sugared words, Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address was more what weve come to expect from him. He may as well had done the entire thing via Twitter.
