President Donald Trump asked members of Congress to stand during his State of the Union address Tuesday if they agreed with the “fundamental principle” that “the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.”
Watch the full clip in our video player above.
While Republicans stood and applauded for two minutes, Democrats shouted at the president. At least one, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., shouted “you have killed Americans,” a reference to two citizens shot and killed by federal agents in Minnesota in January.
Speaking over the shouts, Trump berated Democrats for not standing, saying “Isn’t that a shame? You should be ashamed of yourself, not standing up. You should be ashamed of yourselves.”
Trump’s address comes after 13 months of break-neck deregulation, a record number of executive actions, mass layoffs, aggressive immigration tactics and more.
Ahead of the speech, Trump was expected to outline his administration’s accomplishments, make his case for keeping his party in power this November and celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s independence.
At the same time, a number of pain points have threatened to overshadow Trump’s positive messages during his primetime speech.
On Friday, the Supreme Court delivered a major setback to Trump’s agenda when it struck down his sweeping tariffs. A partial government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, brought on by Democratic opposition to Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement, seems to have no end in sight. And questions about the Jeffrey Epstein investigation continue to dog his administration.
According to the latest PBS News/NPR/ Marist poll, 60% of Americans say the country is worse off compared to a year ago, while 40% believe the country is in better shape.
