When US President Donald Trump delivered his second State of the Union, he had one objective in mind – to re-energise his to-date failing effort to construct a wall along the southern US border. His pitch to American voters contained all his usual half-truths, falsehoods, disinformation, and fear mongering relating to refugees and migrants entering the country from Latin America.

He promised his wall would create more jobs for American citizens, while at the same time ending the drug trade, illegal border crossings, and reducing violent crime. As usual none of these claims are supported by one iota of credible evidence.

President Donald Trump during his State of the Union address. Credit:AP

Instead, the usual racist tropes about the world’s most vulnerable people – refugees – being “illegal,” “dangerous” and a “threat” to the American way of life, whatever that actually is.

To inculcate himself against charges of stoking racism and xenophobia, however, Trump shamelessly used Jewish Americans as a stage prop in his sale of the wall, seemingly using Holocaust survivors, including one who survived the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, to demonstrate his appreciation of immigrants and religious minorities.