President Donald Trump gave his first State of the Union address on Tuesday, a lengthy speech in which he described his accomplishments over the first year of his presidency. Reactions to the speech followed a predictable script, one we have seen many times before in the partisanship that has followed the 2016 election. Democrats were unimpressed, and Republicans sang lukewarm praises of Trump’s economic policy, while his more conservative allies went further with their praise.
In my opinion, Trump’s State of the Union address was nothing but a piece of partisan garbage that did nothing but further increase the divide between parties within the United States. You may think that his speech was a call to come together, as referenced by quotes like “I am asking that both parties come together to give us the safe, fast, reliable and modern infrastructure our economy needs and our people deserve.” So why has he done nothing to bridge this divide? Trump continues to vilify immigrants and people of color, and this increasing partisanship will only further hurt our country.
For the past year, Trump has done nothing but establish himself as the anti-Obama, or, more accurately, an Obama eraser. He has opposed DACA and stripped out multiple regulations put in place by the Obama administration. If he is calling for unity between the two parties, why does he do nothing but pass executive orders that further divide the parties? I am well aware that prior to running, Trump had no clearly thought-out policies or political strategies, but now all he has done is react to things put in place by the previous administration. “We need a president who will not only call for more bipartisanship, but shows he’s willing to work in a bipartisan way,” tweeted Sen. Bill Nelson, a democrat from Florida.
The only consistent thing Trump has done in his first year as president is act largely from personal grief, use the media as a scapegoat, and act irrationally and unpredictably. Trump may be “unconventional,” but his measly attempts at bipartisanship have failed greatly. His irrationality has not worked - nor is it going to start working any time soon.