Democrats panned Donald Trump’s first prime-time speech to Congress since returning to the White House as reaction to the address revealed a country still deeply split on political lines and an opposition party unsure of how to deal with his radical agenda.
The Democrats’ exclusion from the corridors of powers – Democrats are in the minority in both the Senate and House of Representatives – has left them with limited options on how to effectively respond to Trump’s hardline 1hr 40min oration that amounted to a celebration of his purported achievements during his six weeks back in office.
Some of the party’s rising stars, including Chris Murphy, a vocal senator from Connecticut, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive representative from New York, protested by staying away.
Those who attended showed their displeasure by turning their backs on Trump as he spoke and holding up placards with messages like “No kings”, “Save Medicaid” and “Musk steals” in reference to the leading government cost-cutting role being played by the billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk.
The protest was disparagingly compared to bingo signs by one normally sympathetic commentator, Symne Sanders-Townsend, a host on the MSNBC channel.
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“Why are democrats just sitting there? The signs are not landing. It is giving bingo! Sigh,” she posted on X.
The audience of silent, grim-faced Democrats – some of them holding Ukrainian flags or wearing garments in the country’s colours – provided Trump with the perfect prop to troll them in real time.
“I look at the Democrats in front of me, and I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud, nothing I can do,” Trump said. “These people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand, and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements.”
But Democrat displeasure was not all passive.
Some members shouted “January 6” – in reference to the 2021 Trump-inspired attack by a violent mob on the US Capitol – when the president vowed to impose “law and order” and extolled the police.
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The most assertive act of resistance came from Al Green, a member of Congress from Texas, who was escorted from the chamber on the order of the House speaker, Mike Johnson, after loudly heckling Trump and telling him he had no mandate.
Afterwards, Green, 77, who is preparing articles of impeachment against Trump, told reporters that his expulsion was “worth it to let people know that there are some people who are going to stand up”.
A more measured Democratic reaction came from Elissa Slotkin, a senator from Michigan who was chosen to deliver the party’s official response, having won her seat last November in a traditional election battleground state where Trump narrowly defeated Kamala Harris, the Democrat presidential candidate.
Slotkin, a former CIA officer, lambasted Trump’s apparent betrayal of Ukraine, and said Ronald Reagan, a Republican predecessor, would be “rolling in his grave” at the president’s deference to Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader.
“President Trump loves to promise ‘peace through strength’,” she said in a televised address delivered from her Michigan home town of Wyandotte. That’s actually a line he stole from Ronald Reagan. But let me tell you, after the spectacle that just took place in the Oval Office last week, Reagan must be rolling over in his grave.
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“We all want an end to the war in Ukraine, but Reagan understood that true strength required America to combine our military and economic might with moral clarity.
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“As a cold war kid, I’m thankful it was Reagan and not Trump in office in the 1980s. Trump would have lost us the cold war.”
Slotkin also attempted to rouse her Democratic colleagues against depressed apathy in the face of Trump’s aggressive agenda, while inspiring citizens fearful for the future of US democracy.
“I’ve lived and worked in many countries. I’ve seen democracies flicker out. I’ve seen what life is like when a government is rigged,” she said. “Don’t for one moment fool yourself that democracy isn’t precious and worth saving.”
Advising to resist a seemingly unrestrained Trump, she continued: “Don’t tune out. America needs you now more than ever. If previous generations had not fought for democracy, where would we be today? We all know that our country is going through something right now. We’re not sure what the next day is going to hold, let alone the next decade.
“But this isn’t the first time we’ve experienced significant and tumultuous change as a country. Every single time, we’ve only gotten through those moments because of two things: engaged citizens and principled leaders.”
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Jasmine Crocket, a Democratic member of Congress from Texas, had earthier language while promising to take the fight to Trump, whom she called “really psychotic” for his stated desire during his speech to take over Greenland.
“Why are we fighting with Greenland?’ she asked Adam Mockler of the progressive MeidasTouch Network. “We’re fighting with Canada, we’re fighting with Mexico, yet we’re in love with Putin? What is happening? This is not America. This is a terrible nightmare. Somebody slap me and wake me the fuck up because I’m ready to get on with it.”
Donald Trump has terminated the remaining members of the independent, federal commission that assists election administration officials nationwide just a few months before the midterm elections, multiple outlets reported Thursday.
The remaining three commissioners of the four-member bipartisan commission were forced out on Thursday in different ways. The one Republican appointee resigned and the other two, Democratic appointees were notified of their terminations via email from the White House presidential personnel office.
“On behalf of President Donald J Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as Commissioner of the Election Assistance Commission is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service,” the email, seen by Reuters, said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Election Assistance Commission serves as a “national clearinghouse of information on election administration”, accredits testing laboratories and certifies voting systems, and maintains the national mail-voter registration form developed by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, according to the commission’s website. The terminations follow Trump and top administration officials’ advocacy to change vote-by-mail requirements and investigations into the 2020 election outcome, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
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“It is irresponsible and dangerous that this Administration remains dead set on causing chaos for our election officials across this country,” Arizona secretary of state Adrian Fontes said in a Thursday statement. “This move undermines the integrity of nonpartisan election administration.”
The 2002 law that established the commission, the Help America Vote Act, states the president can appoint replacements to the commission.
It is unclear how Trump will move ahead with the commission.
Former U.S. Olympian David Hearn (left) walks with his attorney Norman Eisen to speak to reporters and protesters gathered after his arraignment at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.
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Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn pleaded not guilty to damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in D.C. Superior Court Thursday morning.
Federal prosecutors charged Hearn with a single count of destruction of property causing more than $1,000 in damage to the pool.
Hearn has previously claimed, which his attorneys repeated during a short press conference outside the court, that he simply touched the water in the pool out of curiosity.
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The Trump administration had just completed a $14 million renovation of the pool.
But shortly after the work finished, peeling paint and algae gathered in the water. The remodel has been largely criticized as a massive failure and waste of taxpayer dollars.
Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean released Hearn on his own recognizance. His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 5.
Norm Eisen, one of Hearn’s attorneys, spoke to reporters outside of court following the hearing. He said the administration is using Hearn as a “scapegoat … for their own failures.”
“It is not a crime to touch the reflecting pool, to touch water in the United States of America,” he said.
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Prosecutors say there is a host of evidence against Hearn.
Three more people have been criminally charged with destruction of property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Officers say they detained Cameron Thiers, Sophie Dennison-Gibby and Justin Carreno one Saturday afternoon in June and described in court documents witnessing them peeling and removing pieces of blue paint from the Reflecting Pool.
One officer “witnessed Carreno reach down into the reflecting pool and pull up a piece of the blue paint,” according to the court documents.
The officer who detained Dennison-Gibby “found 1 additional piece of the reflecting pool liner” in her purse, the documents said.
All three incidents were recorded on the officers’ body worn cameras, they said in the court documents.
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Several “partnering law enforcement agencies assigned to the Reflecting Pool” working with US Park Police were involved in detaining the two men and one woman — including officers from Texas, Oklahoma, Montana and California.
One of the officers said in court documents that Thiers “admitted to removing a piece of blue sealant from the Reflecting Pool and still had it in his hand when I made contact with him.”
The three defendants were arraigned in court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges of destruction of property with a value less than $1,000. The judge ordered them to stay away from the Reflecting Pool.
Lawyers for Thiers and Dennison-Gibby declined to comment. CNN has reached out to Carreno’s attorney.
If found guilty of destruction of property, the defendants could be fined up to $1,000 and face a maximum of 180 days behind bars.
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The New York Times first reported that three additional people had been charged with damaging the Reflecting Pool.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that vandals caused major damage to the pool by gashing the lining after his administration spent more than $14 million on renovations, though he has not provided evidence to support that claim. The officers who charged Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby did not accuse them of gashing the lining.
Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn was indicted by a grand jury in Washington, DC, last week for allegedly damaging the Reflecting Pool. Hearn — unlike Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby – was charged with destruction of property with a value of more than $1,000 which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, if convicted. He is set to be arraigned in court Thursday.
Crews began draining the Reflecting Pool over the weekend to make repairs, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, for the second time in three months.
The move comes after weeks of problems – algae blooms, green-hued water, a chipping bottom and the administration’s allegations of vandalism – that have plagued the iconic landmark, making its woes the subject of national interest.
