Donald Trump may not have been in front of a MAGA rally crowd on Tuesday night when he delivered his State of the Union address, but his behavior and remarks were as troubling as ever.
In a couple of instances, Trump was clearly struggling with the simple act of reading the teleprompter.
At one point, as Vox’s Aaron Rupar pointed out, he had difficulty with the word “Americans.”
Trump encounters some trouble reading the word “Americans” pic.twitter.com/WaVN8G4HhU
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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 5, 2020
Not long after that struggle, Trump misspoke when talking about trade, saying, “It’s been many, many years that we were treated fairly on trade,” instead of “unfairly.”
“It’s been many years that we’ve been fairly on trade” — Trump meant to say the opposite pic.twitter.com/cWLNmxkIuV
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 5, 2020
Trump attacked Obama for handing him a good economy
Aside from Trump’s less-than-sharp reading skills, the president was also met with groans and gasps when he had the nerve to attack former president Barack Obama, the man who handed him the economy that he’s now bragging about.
“If we hadn’t reversed the failed economic policies of the previous administration, the world would not now be witnessing this great economic success,” Trump said.
This despite the fact that Obama prevented another Great Depression, saved the auto industry and laid the foundation for the economy that Trump inherited.
In other words, Trump is doing what he’s done his entire life: inherit something, slap his name on it and brag about having created it all by himself.
Video:
Gasps in the chamber as Trump attacks the Obama administration’s economic policy, even though the previous president stopped a depression, saved the auto industry and laid the foundation for the economy Trump inherited. #SOTU pic.twitter.com/NARFIkYQ4E
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) February 5, 2020
At the end of the day, what the country saw on Tuesday night during the State of the Union was more of the same: a president losing his mental grip and gaslighting the country as his Republican puppets cheer on.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.