Trump’s Address Was The Partisan Confrontation America Needed

The best thing to come out of President Trump’s joint address to Congress this week is, God willing, a total abandonment of the facade that “bipartisanship” is a worthy goal in itself.

For 100 minutes, Trump relentlessly, unapologetically championed and promoted his agenda, both what’s been done in just 42 days and what’s still to come. That’s fairly normal of a president, but there were three very special moments that I’ll forever hold dear in my heart when Trump aggressively confronted his political opponents on some very sensitive subjects, effectively saying to hell with performative niceties and forcing the nation to see the deep and highly consequential divisions between the two major parties.

By far the most important moment was when Trump acknowledged the weaponization of the Justice Department that took place against him and under the previous administration. “[W]e’ve ended weaponized government,” he said, “where, as an example, a sitting president is allowed to viciously prosecute his political opponent, like me.” Republicans in attendance both laughed and cheered as Trump said, while pointing to the Democrat side of the room, “How did that work out? Not too good. Not too good.”

At another point in the speech, Trump remarked on the sophomoric conduct of Democrats in the room attempting to prove a point by refusing to applaud even uncontroversial accomplishments of the administration. “I could find a cure to the most devastating disease, a disease that would wipe out entire nations or announce the answers to [the] greatest economy in history, or the stoppage of crime to the lowest levels ever recorded,” he said, before pointing again to the Democrat side of the room. “And these people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand, and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements. They won’t do it no matter what.”

Both Republicans and Democrats engage in this corny ritual each year, not always for nothing, but after the past four years, during which time Democrats engaged in the most un-American behavior of a generation, they deserve to have their disloyalty to the nation elevated and exposed.

Lastly and most devastating was the moment Trump dared Democrats to advocate for longer war in Ukraine. “With no end in sight,” he said, “[t]he United States has sent hundreds of billions of dollars to support Ukraine’s defense with no security, with no anything.” Trump then turned to the Democrat side and asked, “Do you want to keep it going for another five years?” Met with more curious clapping, Trump spotted where it was coming from. “Yeah, you would say — Pocahontas says yes.” The camera panned to applauding Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who famously apologized to the Cherokee Nation for falsely claiming that a DNA test had proved she’s an Indian American.

Political events with general TV audiences of this size are few and far between. Making it clear which party opposes or is in favor of what is the only way to make them still useful. Trump in his address may have cemented that into reality.