Trump, Dems squabble before speech on unity
There are few signs of bipartisanship ahead
WASHINGTON – The bitter partisanship of the past two years was on full display Tuesday just hours before President Donald Trump was to call for optimism and unity in his State of the Union address.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York seems to have triggered the latest Trump Twitter outburst when he said on the Senate floor that the president talks about unity in his annual addresses to the nation but “spends the other 364 days of the year dividing us.” He accused Trump of “blatant hypocrisy.”
Minutes later, Trump tweeted that Schumer hadn’t even heard the speech and was “just upset that he didn’t win the Senate, after spending a fortune.”
Skepticism was already expected from both sides of the aisle for Trump’s televised address to lawmakers and the nation. Democrats, emboldened after the midterm elections and the recent shutdown fight, see little evidence the president is willing to compromise. Even Trump’s staunchest allies know that bipartisan rhetoric read off a teleprompter is usually undermined by scorching tweets and unpredictable policy maneuvers.
The deeply personal attacks show the challenge for Trump as he attempts a reset with Congress.
Still, the fact that his advisers feel a need to try a different approach is a tacit acknowledgment that the president’s standing is weakened as he begins his third year in office.
The shutdown left some Republicans frustrated over his insistence on a border wall, something they warned him the new Democratic House majority would not bend on. Trump’s approval rating during the shutdown dipped to 34 percent, down from 42 percent a month earlier, according to a recent survey conducted by The Associated PRESSNORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders indicated the president would highlight what he sees as achievements, such as the economy, and downplay discord.
But Washington’s most recent debate offered few signs of cooperation between Trump and Democrats. Under pressure from conservative backers, Trump refused to sign a government funding bill that did not include money for his long-sought border wall. With hundreds of thousands of Americans missing paychecks, Trump ultimately agreed to reopen the government for three weeks to allow negotiations on border security to continue.
Trump was speaking for the first time before a Congress that is not fully under Republican control.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who won plaudits from Democrats for her hard-line negotiating tactics during the shutdown, was seated behind the president – a visual reminder of Trump’s political opposition.