By Desmond Keuper
President Trump addresses immigration and employment, among other issues
On February 4, 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump delivered his 2019 State of the Union Address. He touched upon several topics, including immigration and his plans for a border wall between the United States and Mexico. Several guests attended, including Holocaust survivors, American World War II veterans, and two former prison inmates whom he had pardoned.
President Trump began by discussing the nation’s recent history, specifically 75th anniversary of the United States’ victory against Nazi Germany in the Second World War. Among Trump’s guests were two Holocaust survivors and three American veterans of the war. Trump went on to connect the liberation of Germany to a stronger sense of American patriotism.
One key point of his address echoed an idea that he has maintained since the beginning of his presidency: that employment has risen. He claimed that since his election, 5.3 million jobs have been created. However, according to The New York Times, the real statistic is closer to 4.9 million. Additionally, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment has been rising fairly steadily since 2010 during former President Barack Obama’s second term. It can reasonably be inferred from this that employment has risen as a result of the policies put into place by his administration,such as the tax cuts and unemployment benefit extensions he passed in the face of the Great Recession.
This exaggeration did not go unnoticed. Eli Malkus, Class II, shared his thoughts: “I thought there were certain facts that were blown out or proportion.”
One of his major talking points was his proposal for the wall. This has been a controversial issue since his campaign, and recently caused a government shutdown when Democrats and Republicans were unable to compromise on if a wall is necessary or not. Trump discussed the migrant caravans that have been approaching the United States, calling them a threat to our national security. He commented on the perils migrants face on their journey north, such as the risk of sexual assault female migrants face on their journey. This is very much consistent with his prior rhetoric aimed at immigration policy. However, more recently Trump has been commenting on the risks immigration poses towards the immigrants themselves, as opposed to the usual speeches on the risk they pose to America.
At several intervals, Trump made points that are typically thought of as more liberal. One example was his commentary on drug-related arrests. Drug legalization has historically been a liberal position rather than a conservative position, yet two of Trump’s guests were former prisoners whom he had pardoned for drug-related offenses. Additionally, Trump cited one of his accomplishments as having increased female employment, and that there are more female Congress members than ever before. Women’s issues and representation are usually considered to be a focus of more liberal politicians, yet Trump made a point to mention it.
Election season will start soon and Trump will very likely be running for re-election. As such, in addition to maintaining the support of his conservative support base, gaining the support of liberals would increase his support, and lessen the chances of election for Trump’s democratic opponent.