To the Editor:

Re “Emboldened Trump Makes 2020 Case” (front page, Feb. 5):

The state of our union is divided. Half the country believes, as the founders did, that virtue and character matter profoundly in the office of the president and that Donald Trump’s pressuring a foreign government to dig up dirt on his political opponent was an egregious abuse of power. The other half shrugs their shoulders and wants to move on.

In this vein, the president’s State of the Union address did nothing to bridge the divide. It resembled a political rally, with Mr. Trump lying about the economic recovery he was handed by President Obama and lying about wanting to protect the health care of Americans with pre-existing conditions when his administration is in court trying to take those protections away by dismantling Obamacare.

The president’s supporters cheered him on. But that wasn’t enough. Mr. Trump went so far as to award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to a divisive figure — Rush Limbaugh — who has spent his career encouraging hate of the “other.” The State of the Union address is an improper venue for such a controversial act.

But this is where we are. Sadly, the state of our union cannot be strong and hopelessly divided at the same time. Surely we can do better.