The people he loves are not people like you
The longest ever State of the Union speech. That’s the consensus. Donald John Trump likely won’t be Trumpeting his show’s ratings, at least not honestly. (I avoided the plague; Digby watched but couldn’t muster an analysis of the “drivel.”) He apparently stuck to his script. Like this:
And as time goes by, I believe the tariffs, paid for by foreign countries, will, like in the past, substantially replace the modern-day system of income tax, taking a great financial burden off the people that I love.
The convicted felon wants to take the country back over 100 years to the pre-New Deal days of the robber barons and the Ludlow Massacre. The people he loves are not people like you.
A collection of comments on Trump’s appearance Tuesday night.
Tom Nichols (The Atlantic): Trump “said little of substance, but substance wasn’t the point. This year, he intended to put on a show, with an array of guest stars and special appearances. He was happy because he was playing the roles he clearly loves: game-show host, ringmaster, emcee, beneficent granter of wishes—and, where the Democrats were concerned, a self-righteous inquisitor…. pity the fact-checkers”
Asawin Suebsaeng and Andrew Perez (The Ink): “It was a fascist rally peppered with flop-sweat one-liners, ring-led by a man who often sounded bored by his own teleprompted script…. For so much of Tuesday’s speech, Trump hectored the nation to just be grateful for a ruined economy that basically nobody believes is working for them anymore.”
Joyce Vance (Civil Discourse): “Trump continues to live in a magic fantasyland where stuff becomes true just because he says it is.”
National Review: “The problem is that talking people out of how they’re feeling about the economy tends to be very difficult for an elected official, and the inflation rate is, while down significantly, still too high…. [I]t often had the feel of a Trump rally inside the congressional chamber, with its over-the-top boastfulness, informal asides, dubious claims, pointed partisan jabs, and sheer length.”
Paul Krugman: “Well, that was exhausting — or would have been, if I had watched it.” [He waited for the transcript.] “[T]here are two big disconnects. First is the gap between what Trump promised — he was going to bring grocery prices down, cut energy prices in half — and what he has actually delivered. Second is the gap between his wild boasts about how great things are and the reality of a K-shaped economy that is leaving many Americans behind.”
Ed Kilgore (New York magazine): “For a while, you felt that the veteran TV star at the podium was channeling Oprah, showering awards on the worthiest people in his studio audience.”
Dan Pfeiffer (Message Box): “[F]rom a purely political perspective, Trump’s State of the Union was an epic disaster — political malpractice of the highest order.”
Navigator Research: “The dials dipped…when Trump touted the ‘golden age of America’ and his non-stop ‘winning,’ indicating a disconnect between the president and Americans on the economic state of our union.” Focus group member: “Why did he talk about nothing? What kind of speech was that? He said nothing.”
Oh, but the introduction modified by Jimmy Kimmel’s team was magnificent.
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