Tuesday night will play host to President Trump's first State of the "Uniom" address. The theoretical leader of the free world will read a speech from a teleprompter and, as with his address to a Joint Session of Congress a year ago, receive praise from TV pundits for acting "presidential." Van Jones might even suggest tonight is the night Donald Trump Became President. But before the plaudits come flying in over a bar set somewhere in the earth's crust, the speech will be transmitted to the world in various ways, including a livestream on Trump's campaign website. In related news, Trump's campaign is offering anyone who donates $35 or more to his 2020 war chest the chance to see their name flashed on-screen during the speech.

Some have suggested this amounts to turning the State of the Union address into a telethon, except none of the money goes to charity. Others have questioned whether this is even legal under what's left of our campaign finance laws. We would only suggest the Enormously Consensual President should have his staff double-check that list of names before it goes up on-screen. Just ask Stephen Colbert:

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That Colbert Super PAC stunt was all about the absurdity of our campaign finance system and the corrupt incentives it constructs for both donors and elected officials. Just as Colbert launched the PAC in the first place to point out the dangers of unlimited money flowing from unaccountable sources into our elections, he put the list of donors at the bottom to show how people will give money to political candidates in return for a perceived reward. That reward is not often a government that is more responsive and accountable to the average person.

Trump's decision to turn a state address into a fundraiser for his reelection campaign is just the latest incident in his 2020 reelection campaign that would have been a scandal under any other president. He launched that campaign less than five months into his first term, and has repeatedly faced questions over the use of taxpayer dollars on flights to campaign events, and on staff who end up working the events themselves. Surely he'll consider these ethics issues going forward.

Jack Holmes Politics Editor Jack Holmes is the Politics Editor at Esquire, where he writes daily and edits the Politics Blog with Charles P Pierce.

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