Trump talks up economy, bipartisanship
Several Democrats boycott president’s State of Union speech
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump gave his first State of the Union Tuesday, talking up the U.S. economy and calling for bipartisanship — after a year in office during which his aggressive, mercurial politics often overshadowed the former and undermined the latter.
“For the last year we have sought to restore the bonds of trust between our citizens and their government,” Trump planned to say, in a speech excerpt released by the White House prior to the speech Tuesday evening.
In another excerpt, Trump will say “This is our New American Moment. There has never been a better time to start living the American dream.
Trump also was expected to use the speech to call for a bipartisan deal on immigration. On Thursday he proposed a deal that would allow “dreamers” — young immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children — to be given a path to citizenship, in exchange for an increase in border-security funding and large cuts to legal immigration.
“So tonight I am extending an open hand to work with members of both parties, Democrats and Republicans, to protect our citizens, of every background, color, and creed,” Trump was expected to say, according to the excerpts.
At least 11 Democratic lawmakers were set to skip President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address.
Instead, at least two of those absentees planned to take part in a separate event in Washington, the “State of OUR Union,” put on by leading women activists to “offer an alternative view and vision for the country” from Trump’s.
Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Barbara Lee, who are boycotting the president’s State of the Union speech, and Rep. Judy Chu were slated to speak at the forum Tuesday. Chu was set to attend Trump’s State of the Union address, a spokesman said.
The event planners hoped to “address the persistent gender inequality and ’crisis of leadership’” they believe is harming America, they said in a statement on Monday.
Jayapal and the 10 other lawmakers who announced they would boycott Trump’s speech Tuesday night cited the president’s caustic and often controversial rhetoric — especially with regard to race — as the primary reason for their no-show.
“This president has consistently indicated that he has no interest in leading a unified country,” Jayapal said in a statement earlier this month.
“He has gone out of his way to play to a small and shrinking base of voters by using language that diminishes and demeans vast swaths of people in our own country and around the world. ”
Trump uses language that is “outright racist,” Jayapal added.
The “State of OUR Union” program at the National Press Club Tuesday is a gesture to “resist this racism and put forward our own progressive vision for our beloved country,” Jayapal said.
Reps. John Lewis, Maxine Waters, Frederica S. Wilson, Gregory W. Meeks, Danny Davis, Bobby Rush, Jan Schakowsky, Albio Sires, and Earl Blumenauer are the other Democrats who previously announced they would skip Trump’s speech.