Republicans are always quick to praise President Donald Trump, who, in their eyes, is the most perfect man on earth and can do no wrong. And yet, even for these sycophants, their responses to Trump's dark and lie-filled State of the Union address were utterly unhinged.
Congressional Republicans declared that Trump's nearly two-hour speech—in which he bragged about how everything is great again and offered no actual solutions to improve American lives—was the best thing they'd ever seen. Yes, really.
"President Trump just delivered the greatest State of the Union Address that reminded everyone what putting America First looks like!" Republican Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas, who wore a Trump tie that he had Trump sign after the speech, wrote in a post on X. "Also—check out my tie! Thank you to the greatest President of my lifetime."
Republican Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas wears a Trump-themed tie in 2024.
"This was the GREATEST State of the Union Address in the history of our nation," Rep. Nancy Mace, the South Carolina Republican still desperate for Trump’s endorsement in her gubernatorial bid, wrote in a post on X. "President Donald J. Trump IS making America Great Again."
"My legs are going to be sore tomorrow," Rep. Nick LaLota, a New York Republican, wrote in a post on X, referring to how many times he stood and clapped for Dear Leader. (I honestly threw up a little in my mouth after reading that one.)
Even GOP lawmakers vulnerable in this year’s midterms—who, if smart, would be distancing themselves from an unpopular president—fluffed Trump.
"It was an inspiring and patriotic State of the Union speech tonight!” Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans of Virginia, whose race is rated a toss-up by the political handicapping outlet Inside Elections, wrote in a post on X that included two American flag emojis. “Hard to believe how little the democrats stood and clapped while we celebrated America!"
In fact, a number of GOP lawmakers went with the post-speech message that Democrats should have stood and clapped like seals for Trump and the people he used as political props. It’s likely because Trump was visibly frustrated that Democrats remained seated as he gave his divisive speech that attacked Democrats. Why on earth would Democrats cheer for that?
"Democrats refused to stand for the mom of a Ukrainian refugee murdered by a career criminal. They refused to stand for protecting Americans as their first duty. They refused to stand for ending taxes on tips. Some even refused to stand for our Team USA men’s hockey team," Rep. Tom Tiffany, Republican of Wisconsin, wrote in a post on X.
Shocker: Democrats refused to stand for bad policies and for using a tragic murder to demonize immigrants.
President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address on Feb. 24 as Vice President JD Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson clap like seals.
"The main message here was the stark contrast between the optimism of President Trump, the direction we want to take the country, and Democrats sitting in their seats refusing to stand up and celebrate this great country," Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said of Trump's speech, which he described as optimistic even as Trump spoke of murder, bloodshed, and death for much of the address. "I think it was a clear contrast."
Ultimately, Trump's speech won't change his party's fate in the November midterms.
This speech was typical Trump fare, bragging about how great he is and declaring that he has made the country great again, even as Americans say they are struggling with the cost of living and think Trump is focused on the wrong things.
CNN’s reaction poll found that even among the speech’s heavily Republican audience, reviews came in worse than previous addresses Trump has given.
“Nearly two-thirds of speech-watchers said they had at least a somewhat positive reaction to Trump’s speech, with a smaller 38% offering a very positive response. That’s a few points cooler than the reception to his address to Congress last year and falls below the ratings for his first-term speeches in CNN polling,” CNN wrote of their poll findings, which came from a sample that CNN said “was about 13 percentage points more Republican than the general public.”
Trump’s address was bad and won’t help Republicans this fall, no matter how much they declare that it was the best speech in the history of the world.
