Democrats largely avoided making a scene during the 82-minute speech. But there was a smattering of “boos” from the Democratic side on some occasions. | M. Scott Mahaskey/Politico state of the union 2019 ‘WTF’: Dems rip Trump speech as phony outreach Trump’s State of the Union address infuriated Democrats, even as the White House sought to play up a call for unity.

President Donald Trump urged bipartisanship during his State of the Union address Tuesday. Then he promptly called for Democrats to help him build a border wall, enact a new abortion ban and preemptively end the House’s investigations.

Needless to say, it did not go over well.


“WTF,” said Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii afterward about Trump’s immigration rhetoric. “Sickening,” added Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri said he wasn’t sure Washington needs to even hold a State of the Union anymore. And Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia invoked Richard Nixon three times when discussing Trump’s speech.

“It was really inappropriate for a State of the Union address, and it gave a lie to this PR coming out of the White House that he was going to have a much more bipartisan speech,” said Connolly, who left early shaking his head. “So disappointing and inappropriate and, frankly, the worst of Richard Nixon.”

In what often sounded like a campaign speech, Trump renewed his hard-line immigration stance while retelling stories of violence inflicted on innocent victims by undocumented immigrants. That particularly frustrated Democrats still angry about the 35-day shutdown and looking to avoid another funding lapse at the end of next week even as Trump continues to demand money for his border wall.

While there were lighter moments like Democratic women celebrating their historic House win and a rendition of “Happy Birthday” for a Holocaust survivor, for much of the speech Democrats sat silent, many glaring at the president or twisting their faces as he spoke.

Much of the substance of Trump’s address appealed little to a party deeply skeptical of Trump and eager to oust him from office in 2020. His call to concentrate on “legislation” not “investigation” was poorly received among the new majority — "truly outrageous," in the words of Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas).

"I heard no unity tonight. Even the issues on which I think there should be a bipartisan basis, taking on the high cost of drugs, doing a significant investment in infrastructure, we heard no details and no plan. We heard the same empty campaign-style rhetoric we've heard before," said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).

Other than Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Democrats complained bitterly that Trump’s calls for a late-term abortion ban were at odds with his opening lines calling for compromise.

“Calls for bipartisanship seem deeply hollow and empty in light of his calling for an end to the investigation, his support for ending a woman's right to choose, his distorted and deceptive claim that we'd be at war with North Korea now but for his presidency and of course his continued advocacy for the wall,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

Even Manchin, often the president’s only ally among Senate Democrats, said the president could have done without some of the immigration rhetoric: “That part should have been left out.”

“He used rhetoric to divide people as he always does,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) with a shrug.

But Trump is continuing his focus on illegal immigration and socially conservative politics, eager to hold on to his base and unworried about Democrats’ perception of him. He largely avoided intraparty tripwires that divide him and Republicans like the pullout from Syria and his tariff regime, instead digging into the red meat that’s made him so popular among Republicans.

"Until the Democratic Party became radicalized, securing the border and stopping late-term abortion were bipartisan issues that brought us together,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), one of Trump's closest allies on Capitol Hill, raved about the speech while downplaying the harsh partisan tone of much of Trump's remarks.

"I hope America watched because I thought it showed this president growing in this job," McCarthy said. "If there was a label about it, he was being an American first."

Still, some in the GOP said Trump may have missed some opportunities. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said Trump should have relied more on expert advice for his border wall instead of making emotional appeals — and is still worried about the possibility of a shutdown next week.

"I wish that the president had ruled out shutdowns tonight. He didn't. But he also did not say that he was interested in another shutdown, which was positive,” Portman said. The speech “was better than I think a lot of people expected in terms of bipartisanship focused.”

Democrats largely avoided making a scene during the 82-minute speech. But there were scattered “boos” from the Democratic side when Trump called for an end to House investigations and a loud chorus of groans when he referenced the migrant caravan “on the march” to the United States.

The remarks shook at least some of the 17 lawmakers in the conference committee trying to strike a border wall deal by the end of the week.

“I could see a big smile on the faces of the immigrant haters in the Congress as he railed on about the whole issue,” Durbin said. “I don’t think he said anything in there that helped the conference committee.”

Top Republicans said Democrats were overstating things and suggested that on Wednesday morning Trump's immigration riffs will be forgotten.

“We’ve heard it before. I hadn’t heard anything new tonight,” said Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.).

Andrew Desiderio and Marianne LeVine contributed to this report.