Trump blasts 'treasonous' Democrats for not applauding at his State of the Union address
President Trump suggested Monday that Democrats who refused to applaud during his State of the Union address last week were traitors, turning a Cincinnati speech on tax reform into a campaign rally that promised to punish Democrats in congressional elections in November.
“They would rather see America do badly than Trump do well,” Trump said in an official visit to a suburban Cincinnati factory. “It got to the point that I didn’t really want to look to much on that side. It was bad energy.”
Trump said the Democratic response to his speech was “un-American.”
“Someone said ‘treasonous,'” he said. “Can you call that treason? Why not? They certainly didn’t seem to love our country very much.”
Trump’s trip to Cincinnati Monday was billed by the White House as an official event, despite the presence Rep. Jim Renacci, a Republican who represents the other corner of the state but who is running for the Senate in Ohio.
“This isn’t a political event,” White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah told reporters aboard Air Force One. “The president’s there to talk about the tax cut bill that Congressman Renacci and many other Republicans in the House and Senate voted for.â€
But an hour later, Trump took the stage at Sheffer Corp., a hydraulics company in the Cincinnati suburb of Blue Ash, and went on an extended soliloquy on his Democratic opponents, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and her Senate counterpart, Chuck Schumer.
“Nancy Pelosi, what she’s doing to this country, and she’s moved so far left, and Schumer has gone so far left,” Trump said. “Oh, I look forward to running against them.”
Trump even tried attempted to get out the vote for Republican candidates, a strategy usually reserved for the final days of a campaign. He said supporters of the party in power too often get complacent in the next election.Â
“They take it for granted, they sit back, and they get clobbered, because the other people have more energy,” he said. “We’re not going to let that happen to us.”
Trump’s political comments overshadowed what was supposed to be a policy speech intended to highlight his administration’s economic accomplishments. Like hundreds of other companies, Sheffer Corp. gave employees bonuses of $1,000 after the passage of the tax cut bill.
While the president has broad leeway to use his bully pulpit to talk about politics, federal laws require his party to reimburse the government for the cost of political travel. But in identifying the event as an official one, the White House signaled that the taxpayer would pick up the tab.
“There’s never been a better time to hire an American, invest in America, and start living the American dream,” Trump said.
But as he wrapped up his speech, Trump once again called out Renacci — promising to return to Ohio to campaign for him.
“We’ll be back,” he said. “Jim, get in there and fight. We need you. We need you.”Â