Trump’s lies during his state of the union address were expected but, nevertheless, frightening. More frightening though were the standing ovations the Republicans gave every one of them, dashing any hope for the bipartisanship that resolved America’s most contentious issues since 1787.
Bipartisanship is impossible when one party is bound by lies whether they believe them or not and are unencumbered by the truth. The Republicans’ unanimous standing ovations for Trump falsehoods demonstrates that they’re confined to them in their policymaking.
The Republicans stood and cheered for his most blatant and pernicious lies – including his touting of policies that will upend the quality of life of nearly all Americans. For example:
Trump praised his “One Big, Beautiful Bill” as a “turnaround for the ages,” suggesting that it will spur economic growth and pay for Republicans $4.5 trillion tax cut for America’s wealthiest. The nasty truth is Republicans will replace the lost tax revenues by cutting Medicare, Medicaid and food assistance programs.
He claimed that undocumented immigrants were criminals who are responsible for importing drugs, murder, sex trafficking, rape and other violent crimes.
The truth is that undocumented immigrants are arrested less than half as often as native-born citizens for drug crimes and have the lowest homicide arrest rate of all people sur, according to a 2024 study funded by the Justice Department’s National Institute of Justice.
As part of his obsession to undo everything President Obama accomplished he continued to claim it was unaffordable and claimed he had a better and cheaper [undisclosed] plan. The Truth: overturning Obamacare could leave 21+ million Americans without insurance.
Also, Republicans refused to extend the Obamacare subsidies. As a result premiums would rise from $888 in 2025 to about $1,904 in 2026.
And he claimed that his tariffs are paid “by foreign countries,” but they are paid by U.S. consumers, farmers, and businesses. Now that the Supreme Court held the tariffs to be illegal, he will have to reimburse those who paid them. Interestingly, most Republicans remained seated for his tariff lie.
Most Americans know when Trump is lying (which is almost always). It’s a safe assumption that Republicans also know. So why do they endorse his lies with standing ovations? The most common answer is the same reason they pass his policies – that they don’t want to face a primary challenger backed by Trump. So they value keeping their seats more than keeping their oaths to their constituents and all other Americans.
Trump is incapable of reversing course. Unless the Republicans find the courage to contain him, the U.S. will suffer lasting economic and geopolitical costs for years to come. What’s most alarming is that Trump checks all the boxes that mental health professionals use to diagnose a malignant narcissist, which combines narcissism with sadism, paranoia, and antisocial behavior. They take pleasure in harming others, are ruthlessly manipulative, and seek to destroy others to maintain power, often showing no remorse for their abusive actions. Yet the Republicans have turned him loose to destroy the leadership, influence, trust and respect America has taken seven decades to earn.
Twitter (X):
