President Trump gives first State of the Union

BY CASSIE SEMYON

President Donald Trump was greeted by protestors at the capitol Tuesday as he delivered his first State of the Union address.

The group, ranging from teens to adults, stood along constitution avenue in hopes of being seen by the president on his way to the hill.

Jeanne Contardo from Washington D.C. said she felt a need to come out into the fridge temperatures to express her discontent with the Commander-in-Chief.

“You know I had a bunch of information popping up in my Facebook feed from my feelings a year ago and I was reminded that I had been so filled with rage and so committed to act but really recently I’d hit a bit of fatigue,” Contardo said. “So the one year anniversary of my rage prompted me to come out to the State of the Union tonight and make sure that my presence was felt and my anger towards this presidency was heard.”

Three minutes before the start time, the presidential motorcade was escorted past the group, drawing boos and hisses from the crowd.

The protest, which had remained peaceful up until this point, took a turn after a lone trump supporter waving a “Make America Great Again” flag and a protestor began exchanging heated words.
Police intervened and were able to break up the argument.

Inside the Capitol, President Trump was greeted with a different kind of protest.

Democrats remained in their seats for most of the evening, remaining silent as Republicans gave multiple ovations during the eighty-minute address.

The greatest response from the Democrats is when President Trump began to discuss his new immigration policy which was unveiled last week.

Within the 24 hours following the address, house minority leader Nancy Pelosi called the speech “a performance completely devoid of serious policy ideas that lead to real bipartisan effort.”

While his state of the union address was highly praised by the GOP, President Trump faces a new challenge.

The Trump administration is under fire after the release of the Nunes memo Friday.

Despite the objections of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI director Chris Wray, the President released the previously classified document that Nunes says provides evidence that the FBI and the DOJ illegally spied on President Trump’s associates.

The memo highlights the testimony of Former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe to the House Intelligence Committee, with a focus on the warrant to monitor a former Trump foreign policy advisor Carter Page and his contacts with Russia during July 2016.

Democrats claim this memo seeks to undermine special prosecutor Robert Muller’s investigation into the Trump campaigns alleged collusion with Russia.

Former FBI Director James Comey tweeted out early Friday afternoon that the Nunes memo was “dishonest and misleading.”

The House Intelligence Committee voted along party lines to withhold the Democrats ten-page counter memo on Monday. Ranking Democratic Representative Adam Schiff says he plans to push for a vote to release the response memo next week.