The annual State of the Union Address took place on Tuesday, February 5. For those of you who don't know, the State of the Union is when the President goes to the House Chamber to update Congress on the state of our union, otherwise how the country is doing. This comes as one of the few responsibilities the President has that is written in the Constitution.
Tuesday night, President Donald Trump delivered his second State of the Union, which has been delayed because of the 35-day government shutdown. As expected, many Republicans loved it and many Democrats hated it. Here are just a few opinions from both sides of the spectrum. I will first discuss why the Republicans loved it and then later discuss why the Democrats hated it.
Trump began his speech by discussing an idea of unity--bringing together both political parties to work as a team instead of against each other. Unity is something that everyone wants to achieve regardless of their political affiliation. As a country, we need unity to be able to make sound decisions that will benefit everyone as a whole. Trump is usually known for being childish in his demeanor but throughout he kept calm and was able to deliver this message.
Many Republicans want the wall to be built, and Trump did not neglect to mention the urgency of its being built to the rest of Congress. This subject was one of the main reasons why the government was shut down for so long. Since the beginning of his campaign in 2015, he has promised a wall on the border between the United States and Mexico in order to ensure safety. He wants to be able to keep his promise. From the way he spoke about it, he will not be letting up until he is given the money by Congress to build the wall.
According to Trump, America is in the midst of an "economic boom." His specialty is business, so it is no shock that he is putting a major emphasis on improving the economy. One of the many policies that Republicans are known for is wanting taxes to be cut and there to be fewer regulations and that's exactly what Trump has been doing. He discussed the thousands of jobs that have been added to the market leading to a decrease in unemployment. All of this makes him seem more favorable in the eyes of the Republicans
Trump explained, "an economic miracle is taking place in the United States -- and the only thing that can stop it are foolish wars, politics, or ridiculous partisan investigations." If you didn't know, one of the first things Democrats wanted to do when they took back the house was to start investigations on the Trump Administration. Obviously, Trump does not like that his administration is being investigated and this was his way of hinting at his anger towards them. The Democrats do not feel as if these investigations are "ridiculous" because if they did, they wouldn't be doing them. It is important to them that everything the administration is doing is legal.
The hot topic in the United States for the past few years has been domestic mass shootings. When the shooting occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, it caused a ginormous uproar. Not once, did President Trump mention the effects of mass shootings and how there have been way too many. The only mass shooting to be mentioned was the one at the synagogue in Pittsburgh. Although, the point he was trying to make about Pittsburgh was the increasing prevalence of anti-semitism. While the Democrats did appreciate the mention of anti-semitism because this has also been recently a hot topic, mass shootings are something that has been occurring too many times in just the past year and deserves recognition from the President.
Trump stated, "Legal immigrants enrich our Nation and strengthen our society in countless ways. I want people to come into our country, but they have to come in legally." If no one had known anything about his policies on immigration, they would have actually believed this statement because it is true that immigration is our country's foundation. But at the beginning of his administration, Trump had introduced a bill to limit the amount of immigration to the United States. According to AP News, his plan was to set a restraint on chain migration, which is when a family member moves to a different country and the other family members follow. The claim he made completely contradicts his past actions.
