2019 State of the Union address to Congress, plus the Democratic response, Feb. 6, 2019

Pres. Trump's State of the Union address, plus several responses from several Democratic factions.

This speech was postponed due to the federal government shutdown from Dec. 2018 to Jan. 2019. Congress invites the president to address a joint session of the House and Senate, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would not issue an invitation while the government was shut down.

Two images have "gone viral" from this speech. The first is Speaker Pelosi's "clap-back" above. President Trump spoke about replacing "revenge, resistance, and retribution" with "cooperation, compromise, and the common good." Speaker Pelosi stood and applauded, as did Vice President Pence and most of the Congress. When Trump turned to look at Pelosi, she "clapped back," continuing clapping but pointing at Trump. Some interpreted that to mean that her applause was sarcastic, but Pelosi denied that. The less cynical interpretation is that Pelosi welcomes Trump's overtures for cooperation and compromise, but by pointing back, asked the same from Trump. The issue intended for compromise, presumably, is the issue that forced the federal shutdown: Trump's demand to build a wall along the southern border. The "cooperation and compromise" would mean "some form of physical barrier and some additional border security that both sides can agree on, without necessarily an actual wall along the entire length of the border."

The second viral image is shown below: the women in Congress all wore white outfits, initiated by the House Democratic Women's Working Group. Wearing white was a symbol of the women's suffrage movement, which culminated in the 19th Amendment to the United States Consitution in 1920, granting women the right to vote. The coordinated apparel marked a century since the suffrage movement's peak, and also solidarity among Democratic women (including Speaker Pelosi, who wore white). Some male Representatives also wore white, such as Dean Phillips (D,MN) who also wore an "ERA" button on his white lapel; and some Republican women did too, such as Elise Stefanik (R,NY). President Trump's daughter Tiffany also wore white, but would not say publicly if it was in solidarity or just a coincidence.

Pres. Trump, to his credit, really did lay out some important new policy initiatives in this speech -- his justification for withdrawing from the INF; a new anti-HIV goal; and the finalization of the USMCA, for three examples.

-- Jesse Gordon, jesse@OnTheIssues.org, Feb. 5, 2019

Click for quotations from other sources by: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Andrew Cuomo Bernie Sanders Chris Pappas Donald Trump Jay Inslee Jeff Merkley Julian Castro Kamala Harris Kirsten Gillibrand Lois Frankel Marsha Blackburn Mike Bloomberg Nancy Pelosi Pete Buttigieg Ralph Northam Republican Party Stacey Abrams Tim Burchett Tulsi Gabbard Xavier Becerra