President Donald Trump gave his second State of the Union address to a divided congress. Lawmakers on both sides of the isle expressed hope that the President would unify the country and set a tone of bipartisanship in Washington following the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
Temple Update’s Jon Dowding was in Washington D.C. all week and spoke to local lawmakers on what they expected of the President’s address.
Pennsylvania Republican Senator Pat Toomey says, “Generally I hope it’s an upbeat tone or corporation and looking forward to a continued economic and foreign policy success.”
Pennsylvania Democratic Senator Bob Casey says, “The general thrust should be the unifying and affirmative and root for the success in this negotiation.”
President Trump touched on a variety of bipartisan issues including infrastructure, lowering prescription drug costs and combating childhood cancer, but also appealed to his political base by pushing immigration issues, and ongoing investigations into his campaign. The President also announced details of a second summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. The meeting will take place February 27-28 in Vietnam.
Stacey Abrams, the 2018 Democratic Nominee for Governor of Georgia became the first African-American woman to give the Democratic Rebuttal. Abrams spoke from a union hall in Atlanta, Georgia rebuking President Trump on a number of issues including school safety and education. Abrams criticized the President for his role in the 35-day government shutdown and his approach to problems facing the country but “doesn’t want him to fail.”
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