President Trump gave his first State of the Union address on Jan. 30
President Trump gave his first State of the Union address one year after he came into office and it was exactly what was expected. This speech was more of what Americans have already come to discover regarding President Trump and his public speaking habits.
Trump began his speech with what could be considered a blind assumption saying, “a new tide of optimism was already sweeping across our land,” in reference to his election in November 2016.
Following a brief introduction, Trump went on to recognize Coast Guard Petty Officer Ashlee Leppert, Santa Maria firefighter David Dahlberg and Congressman Steve Scalice.
Leppert and Dahlberg were each recognized for their heroics during time of natural disaster in the United States. Congressman Scalice was honored for recovering and returning to work after getting shot in the hip at a baseball practice for the Congressional Baseball Game in June of 2017.
Throughout the remainder of his speech Trump boasted about the economy, infrastructure, job creation, taxes and his plan to “make America great again.”
Trump’s speech was filled with outrageous claims that could either rally a crowd or discourage them. This is no surprise, as the American people have grown numb to Trump’s bold words and predictions.
As most could imagine, fact checking was necessary to anyone watching the State of the Union address. Fact checking and Donald Trump quotes seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly.
The frst exxageration made was when Trump said, “The visa lottery [is] a program that randomly hands out green cards without any regard for skill, merit or the safety of American people”. The visa lottery program requires a high school education or at least two years of experience in some kind of work.
It also requires a background check for security purposes, according to Politifact. This claim by the president was completely false and could not even considered to be exaggerated.
Trump stated that his administration has created 2.4 million new jobs and more specifically 200 thousand new jobs in manufacturing. This is true, but the Trump administration should not be given full credit for this.
The unemployment rate dropped 4.8 percent throughout Obama’s time in office, according to FactCheck.org. This trend of new job creation was in effect long before Trump took office.
Trump also said, “African-American unemployment rates stand at the lowest point ever recorded.” This is very true. However, the Trump administration only gets a very small amount of credit for this.
The African-American unemployment rate has been dropping considerably since 2010, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. About seven years of this drop in African-American unemployment can be attributed to the Obama administration.
These are the largest and most obvious false claims of Trump’s State of the Union address that couldn’t go unnoticed. This speech was another dose of what Americans have come to find out about Trump. He says what he is going to say and his words are irresponsibly void of any kind of evidence or factual foundation.
Trump’s speech was well-written and well-recited even though the content itself was questionable. However, I don’t believe anyone in their right mind would believe a word of what he says. He will say what he wants in a more reserved tone to make it seem as if he is being sincere. He isn’t sincere, he has never been sincere and he never will be sincere.
Trump can say what he wants in front of the American people, but in the end, his actions and underlying rhetoric is what stands out to the greater part of the world. This speech wasn’t convincing in reference to his possible growth as a president and I feel as if this was just a preview for what is to come for the next three years.