An Analysis of Trump’s ‘Gotcha’ Moment Fox News Will Replay Endlessly

Regular readers of this column know that we like to fact-check the lies and false narratives that politicians spread before they take hold. In addition, we aim to preempt particularly disingenuous arguments they make to obfuscate the failings of their own agendas and to distract Americans from what really matters.

And that brings us to Donald Trump and his State of the Union address.

As we predicted, Fox News and the GOP are making a huge deal out of the moment when the president called on those attending the speech to stand up if they agreed that the “first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.”

When Democratic lawmakers remained seated, Republicans immediately seized upon a gotcha moment that they can exploit on the campaign trail later this year, seeing how they have precious else to run on.

Which is why we have seen nonstop hyperbolic statements in the MAGAverse, like this gem from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller:

“Democrats declared to the world their searing disdain for, and profound disloyalty to, the actual citizens of the United States,” he wrote in a social media post, best read when imagining his screeching voice or perhaps in a German translation. “They were repeatedly entreated to stand. Over and over. They refused. It was a moment that chills to the bone and which will live for a thousand years.”

Setting aside that people who act like Nazis may not want to toss around “thousand-year” references, let’s take a look at what happened and what it actually means.

Most importantly, the first duty of members of Congress is to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” That’s how the oath of office begins that was taken by all of those GOP lawmakers who are now wringing their hands and clutching their pearls.

For what it’s worth, the inclusion of the word “domestic” in that oath implies that, sometimes, those enemies are Americans.

Also, not to put too fine a point on this, Alex Pretti and Renee Good were Americans, and the government didn’t just fail to protect these two; it killed them.

As for the president, he swore to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” not “American citizens.”

And, since all immigrants have constitutional rights, the government does indeed have a duty to them when those rights are being trampled… as the Trump administration is doing in thousands of cases.

Furthermore, if you watched the address, you’ll have noticed that it was not only the Democrats who remained seated but also the members of the Supreme Court and the representatives of the Pentagon.

Are we therefore to assume that the justices and all those generals also belong to the “radical fringe” that Vice President JD Vance was referring to in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday morning?

Finally, just because the most lawless president in US history tells people to jump doesn’t mean that they should jump. As much as he would like to, Trump doesn’t get to make the rules, and, as much as they would like to, Republicans don’t get to define what patriotism is.

Americans would do well to remember that, especially because this administration has demonstrated that it segregates them into two categories: those who agree with Trump and those who don’t.

If you fall in the latter group, you can expect to be punished and not protected.

That’s what is happening to the people of Minnesota, who dared to defy ICE in the surge that cost Pretti and Good their lives. On Wednesday, Vance announced that the federal government is halting some of the Medicaid funding that goes to the state.

The likely result of that power play will be that many Americans (including plenty of Trump voters) are going to lose access to medical care, which runs counter to the purported top priority of keeping citizens safe.

In the future, maybe Republicans (who cut nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid and food assistance last year) should be the ones who quietly sit down when it comes to the issue of who is protecting Americans.