I Have Some Notes... (SOTU Edition)
It’s State of the Union day, which means that everyone turns into a performance critic as we turn to watch the President give an overly long speech which rather than telling us what’s going on really just bluster on their own wins while representatives give what seem like never-ending standing ovations.
Well, I have notes…what follows is largely a free-flow of my thoughts as Trump laid out his accomplishments over the last year and lashed out at anyone who dared think he was wrong.
Let’s start with some things to set the stage.
It felt as if this was a pretty big moment for Trump. Polls are sagging, the Supreme Court’s ruling on his tariffs, and the persistence of questions about Epstein have caused some real consequences to Trump’s teflon.
Last year, the Democrats tried a pretty weak technique to counter Trump, which I wrote about here, but this year they began to use strategic absence as a way of protest by holding counter programming and choosing not to attend the State of the Union. I also enjoyed the crowd shots of people sleeping, which underscored how predictable most of the speech was. It remains to be seen if this was helpful or not, but at least it doesn’t play into Trump’s hands. Giving the seats over to Epstein victims is an interesting choice, but I wonder how legible that is, too. Though, as usual, The Onion nailed it.
A recurring trope on cable news is that this is a time when low-information voters turn in and so it has the opportunity to really make a dent. I’m not really sure who these people are and I really doubt that this makes much of a difference.
Trump’s opening—“Our nation is back: bigger, better, richer, and stronger than ever before”—laid out the subtext for this. This wasn’t the State of the Union, it was '“l’etat c’est moi.”
The speech showed how much Trump was in control of the Republicans. Every lie, every exaggeration, every choice wasn’t to show a way forward. It was to show that they will applaud.
The repeated claims that the names for Trump Rx or Trump Accounts weren’t named by him is preposterous. So, too, was claim that Congress isn’t needed for tariffs. Trump sidelined Republicans to their face and they applauded him.
On that theme, the section on corruption was galling. The idea that Congress is more corrupt than the President is insane. As always, every accusation is a confession.
So, too, was the part on migrant violence. Each horror story of a crime was a way that the administration will use to prop up and justify violence in immigration enforcement.
The opening of the speech was typical low-energy teleprompter Trump, but it really heated up as he began to attack Democrats. As this continued, though, the atmosphere became rowdy. His attacks seemed to to spark real moments of candor from the Democrats, who, I think, really showed some backbone as Trump continued to throw insult after insult at them.
The structural choice of bringing in the hockey team and playing to a patriotic feeling helped begin the speech with an air of patriotism, which Trump little by little destroyed.
The section on Charlie Kirk’s killing was also placed away from the section on Homeland Security, because the killing of Alex Peretti and Renee Good was political violence, too.
To the extent that this speech is effective is, it’s structural. This is a clear example of preaching to the choir. In doing so, though, what Trump really did was center the executive in the house of the people.
For me, one of the most telling moments was when Trump went off script and said that this “should have been his third term.” I have to admit that my blood ran cold for a moment, because January 6, 2021 was, indeed, Trump’s attempt to sideline Congress and put himself at the center.
At this State of the Union, he did it again.