The speech was the second State of the Union Address to be delivered by an impeached president, as the1999 address byBill Clinton was delivered duringhis impeachment trial.[2] The address was aired on 12 television networks and was watched by 37.2 million viewers, not including views from onlinelive streams. Overall viewership for the address was 20% lower than 2019.[3] As Trump was concluding the state of the union address, Pelosi stood and ripped up her copy of the speech as a form of protest.[1]
CNN anchors were excluded from the annual pre-State of the Union lunch with the president. This was the first time in recent memory anchors from a specific network were forbidden from attending the lunch.[7]
President Trump delivering the State of the Union address to the U.S. CongressRepublican members of Congress stand for applause during the address
The State of the Union Address began at 9:00 p.m.EST and was televised and streamed by all major U.S.broadcast andcable television networks.[8] The date for the address fell one day after theIowa caucuses in the2020 presidential election, and one day before the Senate vote on whether or not to convictTrump in his impeachment trial.[9][10] As Trump entered the chamber, he appeared to snub Pelosi's offer of a handshake.[11] Breaking with tradition again, Pelosi omitted the line "I have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you" before introducing the president.[11]Secretary of InteriorDavid Bernhardt was named thedesignated survivor and was at an undisclosed location during the address so that, in case of a catastrophe, thecontinuity of government would be upheld.[12]
The address lasted a total of 78 minutes; approximately 26 minutes of the address was consumed by audience applause, primarily from Republican lawmakers.[13] Republican lawmakers in the audience shouted "four more years" before Trump began his address.[11] The address, heralded by Trump as "the great American comeback", primarily focused onnational security,the economy,health care, andforeign policy[13] while avoiding topics such as environmental policy andclimate change, theMueller investigation, and hisimpeachment trial, which was expected to conclude the next day.[14] Various media outlets reported that Trump made false or misleading claims during his address.[15][16][17][18][19]
Among Trump's comments, he addressed the emergingCOVID-19 pandemic: "We are coordinating with the Chinese government and working closely together on the coronavirus outbreak in China. My administration will take all necessary steps to safeguard our citizens from this threat."[20]
Rush Limbaugh, radio talk show host fromPalm Beach, Florida. During the address, Limbaugh was awarded thePresidential Medal of Freedom, presented by First LadyMelania Trump. Limbaugh had announced the day before that he had been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer; Limbaugh died the following year.
Paul Morrow fromMontgomery, Alabama, a United States Army veteran who started a successful contracting business in Montgomery that helps support theU.S. Air Force'sF-35 program.
Robin Schneider and her daughter Ellie fromKansas City, Missouri. Ellie, born at 21 weeks and six days, is one of the youngest babies to survive in the United States.
Ivan Simonovis fromCaracas, Venezuela, a former police chief who was imprisoned in 2004 for protecting protesters and was held in captivity for nearly 15 years and recently given political refugee status in the United States.
Joshua Smith fromPaducah, Kentucky, whose brother, Channing Smith, committed suicide after suffering from a social media cyber-assault by students from his high school.
Amy Williams fromFort Bragg, North Carolina, a military spouse and a mother of two young children who was reunited with her husbandSergeant First Class Townsend Williams during the state of the union address.
Speaker of the HouseNancy Pelosi tears up her copy of Trump's speech.
As the address concluded, Pelosi tore up her copy of the speech in four separate sections. "In case any confusion remained" regarding her actions, "Pelosi held up what remained of the address to her family in the gallery, in full view of reporters".[30][31] Pelosi defended her actions, saying "He shredded the truth, so I shredded his speech. What we heard last night was a disgrace."[32][33] Pelosi elaborated that "it was a courteous thing to do considering the alternatives. It was such a dirty speech."[34] Subsequent to the address, a video showed Pelosi making small tears of the speech as it was being delivered.[35][36] In a subsequent interview with CNN'sChristiane Amanpour, Pelosi admitted to making small tears in her paper copy as the speech was being made, but denied that it was a part of a predetermined act to tear up the speech at its conclusion. Pelosi said that making small rips in the speech was simply a way of marking pages where she disagreed with the president.[37] Some news outlets such asNBC assessed the act differently, "Before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped President Donald Trump's printed State of the Union speech in half, it appears she made tiny tears on the sides to ensure that the moment would go smoothly."[35]
After the address, the White HouseTwitter account posted "Speaker Pelosi just ripped up: One of our last surviving Tuskegee Airmen. The survival of a child born at 21 weeks. The mourning families of Rocky Jones and Kayla Mueller. A service member's reunion with his family. That's her legacy."[31][38] Some conservative analysts claimed that Pelosi broke the law by tearing up the speech under 18 U.S.C. § 2071, claiming she had destroyed an official government document. However, numerous media and legal sources affirmed that no breach of the law had occurred as Pelosi's copy was not a copy that had been officially filed with a court or public office.[39]
Reaction to Pelosi tearing up the speech followed party lines in the days following the SOTU. White House counselorKellyanne Conway described it as a "temper tantrum" which she believed was typical for Pelosi. "America saw an incorrigible child ripping up the State of the Union," Conway told reporters the day after the speech. "I think it shows you how petty and peevish and partisan the Democratic Party has become." RepresentativeHakeem Jeffries of New York, the chairman of theHouse Democratic Caucus, praised Pelosi's actions saying, "As far as I'm concerned, a shredder wasn't available, and so she did what she needed to do." RepresentativeLois Frankel, Democrat of Florida, said "I think she did the only thing she could do within the realm of respectability. She basically said she had had it."[38]
Then President Trump, along with future Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, falsely claimed that Pelosi brokeTitle 18 of the United States Code, Section 2071 by mutilating a record deposited with a member of public office. Experts such as William Eskridge, a professor at Yale Law, assert that she was not given an official copy and have confirmed this is a misrepresentation of the law in addition to being a violation of Pelosi's right to expression of free speech.[40]
Pelosi later stated that she tore up Trump's State of the Union speech because "it was a manifesto of lies".[41]
During Trump's speech, after urging Congress to pursue legislation to lower prescription drug prices, several members of Congress began chanting "H.R. 3"[43] in protest of the Senate's rejection of theElijah Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act.[44]
Democratic representativeTim Ryan walked out of the State of the Union and published a series of tweets, comparing the event to "watchingprofessional wrestling".[45] Gun control activistFred Guttenberg, invited by Pelosi, was ejected after shouting in response to Trump's remarks about protecting the Second Amendment.[46]
Democratic congressmanSeth Moulton from Massachusetts, aMarine veteran, walked out in protest after Trump touted the support he has given to the military.[47] Moulton clarified later that he walked out because "Trump—a draft dodger who has mocked Sen.John McCain,Gold Star families, and soldiers withtraumatic brain injury—started talking about the good he has done for our military."[48]
The State of the Union Address was televised on all the major U.S.broadcast andcable television networks. Many news outlets streamed the address online.[8]
Of the 12 networks that covered the address, every network saw a drop in ratings compared to 2019, except forFox News, which saw a 2% increase over 2019.[52] Following the address, bothCNN andMSNBC saw an increase in viewership duringGretchen Whitmer's official response to the address.[53]
Written message with national radio address * Split into multiple parts
† Included a detailed written supplement
‡ Not officially a "State of the Union" PresidentsWilliam Henry Harrison (1841) andJames Garfield (1881) died in office before delivering a State of the Union
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