Here’s my analysis of the SOTU:
- The first and last segments–the parts that were supposed to be inspiring and bipartisan–fell flat, because they didn’t sound authentic, and Trump clearly didn’t believe any of it. He sniffled, grimaced, and inflected at the wrong times. He simply isn’t capable of delivering a convincing speech that doesn’t rely on anger and sarcasm.
- The bridge was a series of boasts about the economy, some of which were actually true. Describing his tax cut as a “middle class” measure, however, was rich, even for him.
- The meat of the speech, which completely undercut the ostensibly bipartisan part, was a MAGA red meat festival full of the usual Steve Miller images of rampaging illegal immigrants raping and looting their way around the country. There was some fresh material for the base on socialism, abortion, and Venezuela, but most of this stuff was just recycled from campaign rallies.
- In the final analysis, the most noteworthy part of the speech was the threat to wage war on Congress if the House investigates him. I admit that I quite literally gasped when I heard that.
- In the final analysis, the base will be happy, no one else will be impressed, and nothing will change.