2020 State of the Union Address
The 2020 State of the Union Address was given by the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump, on February 4, 2020, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 116th United States Congress. It was Trump's third and final State of the Union Address and his fourth and final speech to a joint session of the United States Congress. Presiding over this joint session was the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, accompanied by Mike Pence, the vice president, in his capacity as the president of the Senate.
Date
The speech was the second State of the Union Address to be delivered by an impeached president, as the 1999 address by Bill Clinton was delivered during his impeachment trial.[2] The address was aired on 12 television networks and was watched by 37.2 million viewers, not including views from online live streams. Overall viewership for the address was 20% lower than 2019.[3] As Trump was concluding the state of the union address, Pelosi stood and ripped up her copy of the speech as a form of protest.[1]
Background[edit]
Article II, Section 3, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution states that the president "shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient."[4] Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi sent an invitation to President Trump on December 20, 2019, two days after his impeachment by the House of Representatives.[5][6]
CNN anchors were excluded from the annual pre-State of the Union lunch with the president. This was the first time in recent memory anchors from a specific network were forbidden from attending the lunch.[7]
Protests[edit]
Several members of Congress boycotted the State of the Union, including Democratic representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Earl Blumenauer, Steve Cohen, Al Green, Hank Johnson, Maxine Waters, and Frederica Wilson.[41] Carrying on a tradition started during the 2019 State of the Union Address, Democratic women who attended the speech dressed in white in reference to the women's suffrage movement and wore lapel pins with symbols for the Equal Rights Amendment and global warming (climate change).
During Trump's speech, after urging Congress to pursue legislation to lower prescription drug prices, several members of Congress began chanting "H.R. 3"[42] in protest of the Senate's rejection of the Elijah Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act.[43]
Democratic representative Tim Ryan walked out of the State of the Union and published a series of tweets, comparing the event to "watching professional wrestling".[44] Gun control activist Fred Guttenberg, invited by Pelosi, was ejected after shouting in response to Trump's remarks about protecting the Second Amendment.[45]
Democratic congressman Seth Moulton from Massachusetts, a Marine veteran, walked out in protest after Trump touted the support he has given to the military.[46] Moulton clarified later that he walked out because "Trump—a draft dodger who has mocked Sen. John McCain, Gold Star families, and soldiers with traumatic brain injury—started talking about the good he has done for our military."[47]
Responses[edit]
Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer gave the Democratic response.[48] Texas representative Veronica Escobar gave a Spanish-language response.[49] In addition, Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and Representative Ayanna Pressley gave their own personal responses.[50]