The State of the Union address last night didn’t say anything that was a surprise. It honestly felt more like a typical Trump campaign rally than a State of the Union address. There was a lot of standing, a lot of clapping, and a lot of soaking in applause that wasn’t earned. Even when he was announced, he took his time to get to the microphone so he could get as much applause as possible. He even applauded for himself. Later on he introduced people who absolutely did deserve recognition, but then he would just stand there as if the applause was meant for him instead of the people being honored. The six minutes for the U.S. hockey team was a perfect example. That moment was about them and what they accomplished. It was their hard work that won the gold medal and that is why people were applauding. That applause wasn’t for him but he accepted that it was meant for him anyways. Moments like that are supposed to unite people, not turn into another campaign move for himself. Overall, the tone just felt more like a rally than a serious address about the state of the country. Then again, why would he want to even talk about the state of the country? If he did it would show exactly why his approval rating is what it is, at an all-time low. It was all about crowd reactions and light on anything meaningful. We’ve heard most of it before. It was more about energizing supporters than laying out any vision or acknowledging the complicated reality the country is facing right now. And honestly, of all people, Trump trying to call others crazy and insensitive was very laughable. The irony there was hard to miss. He talks about protecting children and women, using that as a major talking point, yet there was no mention of the 53 pages reportedly missing from the Epstein file where his name seems to appear. He talked about the United States of America returning to religion, and talked about Christian values. This is the last person that should be talking about Christian values. His moral background should be embarrassing for anyone that is truly practicing Christianity. The way he treats people, minorities, people with disabilities and especially as of late, women, and how he has cheated on his own wives alone takes away any seriousness about his opinion on Christian values. I am not offended by his comments as a Christian, because I am not one, I am offended as a person that truly does respect religions. In the end, it just felt like more of the same. A lot of applause, a lot of rally energy, and a lot of moments to fire up his base. But as far as actually learning something new about where the country is headed, there really wasn’t much there. It was not a State of the Union meant to inform the country. It was a campaign speech delivered from the chamber.
