On February 5, 2020, President Trump gave his State of the Union Speech. This State of the Union was unlike any other before. As the president’s impeachment trial approaches closure, the State of the Union Address was his opportunity to prepare for his upcoming chance of reelection. During the speech, it is also clear how divided the Republicans and Democrats are.

Right from the beginning of the night, President Trump appears to have rejected, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi’s handshake. This resulted in her tweeting after the president’s speech, “Democrats will never stop extending the hand of friendship to get the job done,” along with a photo of the president ignoring her handshake. However, Speaker Pelosi also did not introduce the president the way she was expected to. She was expected to say, “I have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you the president of the United States,” but instead she merely said, “Members of Congress, the president of the United States.”

Many claims that President Trump made during his speech were highly exaggerated. For example, Trump exaggerated that the United States has had the lowest unemployment rates for women in seventy-one years when according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, it is about sixty-six years. Some of his claims are valid. Trump spoke about how unemployment levels for certain minority groups are at an all-time low and that the United States has added approximately seven million jobs during his presidency. These claims have been proven true by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The president invited guests who he recognized during his speech. Some notable moments with his guests include when he gave a scholarship to a fourth-grade student, when he reunited a military family, and when bestowed the Presidential Medal of Honor to conservative talk show host, Rush Limbaugh. These actions have left many Americans to believe that President Trump behaved as if his speech was his own reality show.

Throughout his speech, it was clear that Speaker Pelosi did not support what the president was stating. She would make faces of disgust while the president was speaking and when the president concluded his speech, she shocked many people. She ripped up President Trump’s speech. The White House responded to this on twitter by saying, “Speaker Pelosi just ripped up: One of our last surviving Tuskegee Airmen. The survival of a child born at 21 weeks. The mourning families of Rocky Jones and Kayla Mueller. A service member’s reunion with his family. That’s her legacy.”

Overall, this year’s State of the Union Address was eventful. It contained everything from the President and the Speaker snubbing each other to recognizing military heroes. Piper Guyton (9) says that “the amount of tension between the Republicans and Democrats was really obvious.” Because of this State of the Union, Republicans will keep finding ways to point out Pelosi’s actions that they find inappropriate and Democrats will keep pointing out all the lies they believe President Trump told.