Another day, another distraction from the files

By: Mo Hill, Opinion Editor

Well everyone, it’s been another year, and with that comes another State of the Union Address. President Donald Trump addressed the nation on Tuesday, Feb. 24, and with his address came even more controversy than there was before. Amidst a nation in turmoil following mass protests, overreach by the Department of Homeland Security and the release of the Epstein Files, it is critical to address the nation in a way that provides clarity for the future, but as usual it seems that Trump’s State of the Union Address has only brought more issues. 

Even before the address began, there was conflict. Texas Representative Alexander “Al” Green was seen holding a sign reading “Black people aren’t apes” prior to the address, most likely in reference to a racist post made by Trump on his Truth Social social media app that depicted former president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle as monkeys, which was taken down quickly after backlash. This act of protest by Al Green was seen in similar cases throughout the State Of the Union Address as other democratic lawmakers such as Representative Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib spoke out against Trump. When Trump claimed that Democrats should be ashamed of how they have operated during his presidency, Omar and Tlaib shouted back “You have killed Americans,” in reference to the murder of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Shortly after, the two left the chamber in protest of Trump’s statements.

With this address also came the usual misinformation coming from Trump in regards to the nation. Trump continued to emphasize his anti-immigration platform and used it as a way to blame democrats, stating, “They poured in by the millions and millions from prisons, from mental institutions. There were 11,888 murders.” According to NPR and CNN, this claim is not fully accurate. CNN reported that these 11,888 murders occurred over the course of multiple decades, including during Donald Trump’s first term as president. NPR reported that out of the record 70,000 immigrants currently being held in detention, 74% of them have no prior criminal record, and of those who do have one, the percentage of immigrants with a violent criminal record is even smaller. 

Trump also claimed that he has created a large amount of jobs for Americans, stating, “More Americans are working today than at any time in the history of our country. Think about that — any time in the history of our country, more working today, and 100% of all jobs created under my administration have been in the private sector.” This is also inaccurate according to both NPR and CNN. According to NPR economic correspondent Scott Horsley, “Job growth slowed sharply in the last year. U.S. employers added just 181,000 jobs in all of 2025, compared to more than 1.4 million in 2024.” Bouncing back to my previous statement, it is hard to take this country seriously on an international level when our president is incapable of giving accurate information.

The State of the Union address this year felt more like a skit from “Saturday Night Live” than it did a formal address to the nation, so I understand if you didn’t watch it – because who under the age of 40 watches “Saturday Night Live?” Amidst the inability of Republican lawmakers to sit still rather than give the president a standing ovation after every sentence, the blatant lying to the people of this country and the shouting matches throughout, it was very hard to understand. I’m sure that this could have gone very differently had our politicians taken this event seriously, but I guess we’ll never know.