SOTU: A Mixed Bag of Trolling and Performance Art. It Still Needs to End.

There was much to like - and not like - about last night's State of the Union Address. We still need to end this spectacle.

I expressed my views on the modern State of the Union address in 2022 after then-President Joe Biden's predictably lousy performance. “End This Spectacle,” the headline of my blog post read. I would happily welcome the return of a written State of the Union as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson delivered.

It’s been a televised Joint Session of Congress spectacle since Lyndon Johnson in 1965. Harry Truman delivered the first televised State of the Union Address; Calvin Coolidge gave the first radio address in 1921. It was called the “annual message” before becoming a “State of the Union” address in 1942.

I still want to revert to the early precedent, but we know Mr. Television Performer will never pass up the opportunity to perform on a stage where he excels. Some extraordinary traditions are leading up to such a speech, including a “designated survivor,” a member of the Cabinet in the line of succession who stays away from the event in case catastrophe happens.

Last night’s “Designated Survivor” was former US Rep. Doug Collins (R-VA), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

As Secretary of the Senate in early 1996, I led Senators double-file from the Senate chamber across the Capitol. Then, as they were introduced, I led them into the House Chamber, with Vice President Al Gore and Senate President Pro Tempore Strom Thurmond (R-SC) immediately following me. I had a makeshift seat to the right of the podium for then-President Bill Clinton’s 1:06 hour-long speech. He held the record of 1:28 in 2000 until last night.

Trump beat that record in spades last night, clocking in at 1:40. Either Donald Trump or Bill Clinton has delivered the eight longest speeches on record, each lasting over an hour. It’s a record I’d just as soon not see beaten. Let Trump retire the trophy.

The House chamber and galleries are packed, including not just Members of Congress but Members of the Supreme Court, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the “Diplomatic Corps.” Following Ronald Reagan’s precedent of introducing gallery visitors in 1982, the newest tradition is that Members of Congress bring honored guests for the speech (each Member gets one gallery pass; leadership gets a couple more). Many issue press releases about their guests, which range from prominent college football coaches to veterans and community leaders.

Among many House Members, this year’s favorite guests were “fired” federal workers, at least among Democrats, and members of law enforcement by Republicans.

Oh, sure, as performance art, President Donald Trump was at his best last night. His comedic sense of timing is equaled only by Ronald Reagan and might be better. He knows how to command a podium and a stage. Recognizing guests in the House chamber’s visitors’ gallery brought tears to many of us, especially 13-year-old DJ Daniel. He’s the cancer-surviving African-American boy on a quest to “join” 100 police departments. The look on his face when the President directed his new Secret Service director, John Curran, to install him as a member was priceless.

Daniel’s impromptu high-fiving of Jason Hartley, the California High School athlete the President announced had been accepted into West Point, was heartwarming.

Other recognitions brought tears to our eyes for different reasons, especially the recognition of mothers who had lost daughters from violent murders at the hands of illegal aliens. Trump displayed a prop, handed to him by Vice President JD Vance, an executive order renaming a south Texas wildlife refuge for Jessica Nungaray, the 13-year-old murder victim of illegal aliens.

While Trump’s speech brimmed with strengths and predictable salvos, I miss the days of a more dignified event. Not only did I wince at Trump’s forays into partisanship and trolling of Democrats, which was unnecessary, but my eyes also rolled at seeing Democrats’ antics. From the embarrassing outburst of 80-year-old US Rep. Al Green (D-TX) to the silly bingo-style placards and other signage, Democrats did themselves no favors in the eyes of everyday Americans.

Most noteworthy was their stone-faced silence at Trump’s recognition of Daniel, Laiken Riley, or Jessica Nungaray’s mothers and family members. Their scowled faces, antics, and demeanors confirmed their growing detachment from reality. Senator Elise Slotkin’s (D-MI) “Democratic response” was as forgettable and ineffective as nearly all her predecessors, Democratic or Republican. That practice needs to end, too.

What Democrats need to realize is they when they pull stunts like this, they invite memes like the following, which is also how a lot of everyday Americans see them.

A lot of Democratic women wore pink to, apparently, protest Trump for being “anti-woman.” Trump scored points by noting how every Senate Democrat voted against legislation (a motion to proceed) by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) to ban biological males from women’s sports. Trump went further by introducing Payton McNabb, a young lady in the gallery who was seriously injured by a biological male during a women’s high school volleyball game. The cameras, no longer controlled for this event by House staff, panned to Riley Gaines, the 12-time NCAA champion Swimmer and University of Kentucky star leading a national campaign to protect women’s sports.

During an otherwise entertaining segment, Trump also erred by suggesting that Social Security’s records have flaws. He noted how many people over 100—even up to 360 years of age—still appear on records without death information. He hinted that these people are still receiving retirement benefits. That’s almost certainly untrue since Social Security automatically cuts off benefits for anyone over 115 for whom they don’t have death information. The odds that a 360-year-old “person” is still being issued retirement benefits are infinitesimal.

The Social Security Administration’s inspector general noted these errors in a recent report, which included recommendations on updating them, which were rejected. Also, over seven years (2015-2022), the Social Security Administration made $72 million in improper payments. Only $23 million has been recovered.

Congratulations to President Trump on a masterful speech and event. He won the evening. But I still want to end this spectacle, which continues to devolve into unwelcome pettiness, partisanship, and unbecoming performance art.