When President Donald Trump gave his first State of the Union address last night, Democrats weren’t happy about it. It was a real shame, because Trump offered them many olive branches — libertarians would say he gave them too many.
Here are 5 times Democrats should have stood and clapped, but didn’t.
Democrats needed Jeb Bush last night… #SOTU @PJMedia_com #PleaseClap pic.twitter.com/YAbDbfkbL6
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) January 31, 2018
1. Black unemployment.
Early in the speech, President Trump noted that African-American unemployment has reached a record low. He declared, “Unemployment claims have hit a 45-year low. African-American unemployment stands at the lowest rate ever recorded, and Hispanic American unemployment has also reached the lowest levels in history.”
Black congressional Democrats were stone-faced.
YouTube screenshot of black congressional Democrats’ response to Trump on record low African-American unemployment.
The Congressional Black Caucus just refused to clap when Trump talks about the African-American unemployment being the lowest in history… #SOTU
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) January 31, 2018
Shouldn’t African-Americans celebrate low black unemployment?
The Congressional Black Caucus just disappointed me. They can at least clap when the President says African-American unemployment is the lowest in recorded history. We should at least be able to celebrate that.
— Gianno Caldwell (@GiannoCaldwell) January 31, 2018
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) credited former President Barack Obama, rather than Donald Trump, for the drop in black unemployment.
Any way you square it, the drop in Black unemployment was a trend that started under President Obama. President Trump is just along for the ride. However, we can do better — the Black unemployment rate is still approximately double that of white unemployment. #SOTU
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 31, 2018
The data does suggest that the decline began under Obama, but continued under Trump.
Trump: African-American unemployment stands at the lowest rate ever recorded.
Fact-check: The black unemployment rate started dropping around 2011 — long before Trump took office. https://t.co/c1MyHdQpM9 #SOTU pic.twitter.com/LK2ZFLrQH6
— Vox (@voxdotcom) January 31, 2018
Liberal commentator Jarrett Hill credited Obama — and made it seem like Democrats should stand and applaud at Trump’s mention of low black unemployment, because they’d really be clapping for Obama.
What he said:
Black unemployment is at a record low.What I heard:
Obama's policies have been working for years and I'm proud to take credit for it. #SOTU— Jarrett Hill (@JarrettHill) January 31, 2018
This suggests that Democrats can’t even celebrate a vitally good thing that began under Obama, just because Trump mentioned it in his State of the Union.
2. Paid family leave.
President Trump offered Democrats an olive branch with the issue of paid family leave. Democrats called for this issue throughout the 2016 election, and Obama mentioned it in his State of the Union last year.
Trump said, “And let us support working families by supporting paid family leave.”
This came as a surprise, as it wasn’t in the prepared remarks.
Trump also calls for paid family leave. That was not in his prepared remarks. #SOTU
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) January 31, 2018
While the president delivered this line, he gestured to the Democrats, inviting them to stand.
Paid family leave? And then he gestures to the Democrats and asks them to stand.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 31, 2018
Democrats refused to stand and clap for this proposal, even though Trump took a rather large risk in supporting it.
Workers are getting bigger paychecks, paid family leave, educational opportunities, and Democrat leaders are. . . panicking? https://t.co/2jUNMmIe4n pic.twitter.com/JJhlcw0XF0
— Paul Ryan (@PRyan) January 30, 2018
Former Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas), the posterb oy of libertarian conservatism, pointed out why mandatory paid family leave is a bad idea. The proposal involves wage and price control, by requiring employers to change the way they employ workers. Companies should perhaps be encouraged to offer this to employees, but a government mandate is a bad idea.
Paid family leave = wage and price control! #SOTU
— Ron Paul (@RonPaul) January 31, 2018
Even so, Ben Domenech wrote an op-ed for The New York Times suggesting Trump’s move is a good idea.
My latest in @nytimes on Trump's political opportunity on paid family leave. https://t.co/ZNlup05Df1
— Ben Domenech (@bdomenech) January 30, 2018
That Democrats would not applaud this huge move is rather telling.
3. Veterans.
President Trump has championed reform of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Last June, he signed a pivotal piece of legislation empowering VA Secretary David Shulkin to expedite the process of holding bad VA employees accountable. After years of VA scandals, this was extremely heartening.
The president brought up this achievement in his speech. “And we are serving our brave veterans, including giving our veterans choice in their healthcare decisions. Last year, the Congress passed, and I signed, the landmark VA Accountability Act,” he declared. “Since its passage, my Administration has already removed more than 1,500 VA employees who failed to give our veterans the care they deserve — and we are hiring talented people who love our vets as much as we do.”
Democrats refused to stand and clap for this achievement. The Daily Caller fit this remarkable rejection into their video — toward the end.
While Trump championed veterans, Democrats were on their phones.
Shame on you #Democrats get off your phones and clap for VA reform. #SOTU #StateOfTheUnion
— V Turkowski Ed.D (@vfixturkowski) January 31, 2018
Meanwhile, Shulkin gave the president a standing ovation.
.@SecShulkin gives Trump a standing ovation for signing the VA Accountability Act. Here's why it was such a great achievement. https://t.co/3Ujk9FmP8f @PJMedia_com @ConcernedVets #tcot #VAReform
— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) January 31, 2018
4. Infrastructure.
Trump also made infrastructure a priority in his outreach to Democrats.
“America is a nation of builders. We built the Empire State Building in just 1 year — is it not a disgrace that it can now take 10 years just to get a permit approved for a simple road?” the president asked. “I am asking both parties to come together to give us the safe, fast, reliable, and modern infrastructure our economy needs and our people deserve.”
Trump waxed eloquent declaring, “Together, we can reclaim our building heritage. We will build gleaming new roads, bridges, highways, railways, and waterways across our land. And we will do it with American heart, American hands, and American grit.”
When it came to Democrats, many of them grimaced at the president’s declaration that both parties should give Americans the infrastructure “our people deserve.” CNN captured the moment.
President Trump on infrastructure: "As we rebuild our industries, it is also time to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure… America is a nation of builders.” https://t.co/2cJTPPwQNq #SOTU pic.twitter.com/DV1pQX64dJ
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) January 31, 2018
Infrastructure, even more so than paid family leave, has been a major goal for Democrats. Yet they grimace when Trump brings it up.
Reduce the price of prescription drugs.
Replace our crumbling infrastructure.
Paid family leave.If a Democrat president pushed these things, they'd be trying to get him a third term.
— Razor (@hale_razor) January 31, 2018
5. “USA!”
Toward the end of the speech, President Trump waxed eloquent on the U.S. Capitol Building. “And freedom stands tall over one more monument: this one. This Capitol. This living monument to the American people,” he said. Republicans shot up out of their chairs in applause, chanting “USA! USA! USA!” Democrats hesitated.
Slowly, they started getting up. As the camera panned to them, it revealed a rather unenthusiastic crowd. They stood, but they weren’t happy about it.
We have a bipartisan standing ovation — and a lot of "USA!" chants. https://t.co/00Kmhu7ges
— Meg Wagner (@megwagner) January 31, 2018
Did you catch that? Rep. Louis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) rushed out, in the middle of the “USA!” chants.
A spokesman insisted it wasn’t a protest.
https://twitter.com/dmartosko/status/958557094592081925
Even so, Gutierrez released a scathing statement against Trump. “Even though I disagreed with almost everything he said, for Trump, the speech was clear and well-delivered. Whoever translated it for him from Russian did a good job,” he said.
His conclusion proved most damning. “I was born in 1953 in the U.S. when separate but equal was the law of the land. I am proud of the progress the United States has made as a nation on issues of race, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, and many other areas where we have advanced. I was hoping to get through my life without having to witness an outwardly, explicitly racist American President, but my luck ran out.”
Perhaps Gutierrez rushing out was not a protest against “USA!” chants. Even so, some of the Democrats’ actions did suggest a rather lax patriotism. As Muslim reformer M. Zuhdi Jasser pointed out, “Dems sit on their hands as [Trump] calls for ‘merit based immigration for those who love and respect our country’!! Are Democrats apparently now ‘the Party for Foreign Insurgencies’??”
Dems sit on their hands as @POTUS calls for “merit based immigration for those who love and respect our country”!! Are @HouseDemocrats and @SenateDems apparently now “the Party for Foreign Insurgencies”??
— M. Zuhdi Jasser زهدي جاسر (@DrZuhdiJasser) January 31, 2018
Sometimes they give Americans reason to wonder.
These were just five moments Democrats refused to stand and clap, but there were many more — so much so that conservatives joked about it.
Breaking News! Medical personnel being rushed to US Capitol to administer Metamucil to Democrats who appear deeply miserable even with lowest unemployment in history among minorities. Hope it’s not too late!
— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) January 31, 2018
Other times suggested Democrats don’t want Americans to try pre-approved drugs, even if their lives are in danger.
"Terminal patients should be able to try life-saving treatments!" And Democrats sit.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 31, 2018
Linda Sarsour, the Muslim Women’s March leader, called for every single Democrat who stood during the speech to be voted out of office. It wasn’t enough for Sarsour to declare a “jihad” against Trump — she had to call for the scalp of any Democrat (and Republican, but does anyone on the Right listen to her?) who applauded any part of Trump’s speech.
Electoral strategy 2018 – vote out every single one of those in the chambers that stood over and over again to applaud xenophobia, stripping of healthcare, and blatant lies. #SOTU
— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) January 31, 2018
CNN caught some of these silent protests, but they were too many to count.
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