About halfway through his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump pitched the moment on Democrats as a trap: Stand up if they believe that protecting Americans, not “illegal aliens,” is the first duty of government. It was blatant political theatrics, while it also gave the impression that he was making a secessionist speech.
The call for audience participation may be the most memorable part of the longer version of the book Annual presidential address To Congress on Tuesday — certainly if Trump’s Republican allies get their way.
Democrats — who have not boycotted the entire issue — have been left with an “if you do, damned if you don’t” choice. They either join a president their party despises, or they become a pillar of his campaign.
“One of the great things about the State of the Union address is that it gives Americans an opportunity to see clearly what their representatives really believe,” the president said. Then: “If you agree with this statement, stand up and show your support: The first duty of the U.S. government is to protect American citizens. Not illegal aliens.”
Thus, the lines of division within the Council, and thus the nation, were drawn.
The speech as a whole underscored the potential of the State of the Union as a theater that only a sitting president could direct — especially one with Trump’s natural abilities as a showman. Trump celebrated the veterans and linked their exploits to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. He has benefited from an Olympic gold medal for the USA Men’s Hockey Team. He offered tear-jerking moments, such as introducing the widow of murdered activist Charlie Kirk.
But nothing was more difficult than the split between standing or sitting introduced by the president.
Vice President J.D. Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson jumped in behind him. So did Republican lawmakers who watched from the House floor, adding applause. Almost all Democrats remained seated. Some stared, some squirmed.
“Isn’t that a shame?” Trump said. “You should be ashamed of yourself, and don’t stand up.”
It was the kind of moment that Trump, a former reality TV star, has made an integral part of his presidency. His next challenge will be to harness his divisive power to help Republicans in the midterm elections, as the party faces an uphill battle to maintain full control of Congress.
One can almost feel the moment being captured on tape for “Make America Great Again” loyalists to spread on social media and store for campaign ads in the upcoming midterm elections. “The entire Democratic Party has excluded itself from government service in this one exchange. There is nothing like it in the history of the United States,” Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, posted on X.
“This is your Democratic Party right here,” host Lawrence Jones said on Fox. & “Friends” Wednesday. “The entire speech was filled with testing questions for Democrats.” He said the problem with Democrats is that they don’t view people of “different backgrounds” as legitimate Americans.
On CNN, analyst Van Jones called it a stunt. If he had said: Get up if you like puppies, they would have said: We like kittens. I mean there was no way they could stand up. “He was just trying to make the Democrats look bad.”
Stationed in Saginaw, Michigan, to get residents’ reaction to Trump’s speech, Jones asked a man on the committee what he would do if he were a Democrat in that position. The man did not directly answer the question. Jones asked again. “I was going to respect our country and I was going to stick to my standards. I was going to stay the same.”
In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Bill Hemmer asked Sen. John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, whether or not he would stand up at that moment.
Fetterman said he stood up when Trump introduced the mother of one of the crime victims. He has defended Trump’s introduction of a political prisoner released from Venezuela. Stand for Erica Kirk. Celebrate military veterans. But he did not address Hemmer’s specific question.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York redirected the question when asked about it on CNN. “We agree that we need to protect Americans,” he said. “He’s not. At the hands of his reckless ICE in Minnesota, two Americans are murdered. The Americans are pulled from their car and beaten.”
Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University’s Blair Center for Television and Popular Culture, said the moment demonstrated Trump’s skill as a television interviewer, which he honed for years as the star of “The Apprentice” before entering politics. “No matter how we feel about politics and craziness, he has a real sense of rhetorical timing. He can play the room,” Thompson said.
He said Democrats were caught in the rhetorical spotlight, filling the role they were cast without their knowledge or consent. With more time to think, he said, they could have rolled their eyes and stood up.
This might have made sense if Trump had said nothing beyond the government’s role in protecting American citizens, said Kathleen Hall Jamison, director of the Annenberg Center for Public Policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
But he didn’t. She added that framing the matter as a choice between citizens and “illegal aliens” – a phrase offensive to many – changed the equation. She said the challenge may have been effective with the president’s base of supporters, but independents and Democrats would view it as a trap.
“I don’t think Democrats had any choice,” Jamison said. “But here’s a potential impact: You may see more Democrats not attending future State of the Union addresses.”
Democrats cannot participate in portraying any immigrant as less than human, said Xochitl Hinojosa, a party strategist. She said that although the president got a photo that “may end up appearing on Fox News all day,” that does not change the negative consensus many Americans have about his handling of immigration and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdown in Minneapolis, where two Americans were killed.
David Axelrod, communications maestro in the administration of former President Barack Obama, said that Trump’s goal was to entice a response. He downplayed the idea that Democrats had always made a mistake even if Trump got what he wanted in that moment.
“He’s on the defensive now” regarding the economy and even immigration, Axelrod said. “It will be interesting to see how it goes.”
Anjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist from South Carolina who sometimes advises House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, said the challenge for Democrats to sit or stand was a “distracting moment” for Trump.
“I believe that the members who ignored the president did our party a disservice,” he said.