Donald Trump continued to face scathing criticism for his State of the Union on Wednesday, with senior Democrats accusing him of failing to protect Americans.
The Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, said Democrats were right to remain seated when Trump called on the audience to stand if they believed in protecting US citizens over undocumented immigrants.
“Bottom line is very simple, we agree we need to protect Americans. He’s not,” Schumer told CNN. Ilhan Omar who, along with Rashida Tlaib, verbally protested while the president made the address, said: “Donald Trump killed two of my constituents. He is a liar and should be ashamed of himself.”
Republicans are using the refusal to stand to call out Democrats. JD Vance said it was a “shame” and represented a “sad commentary” on the Democratic party.
Trump also hit out at congresswomen Omar and Tlaib in a vitriolic Truth Social post, claiming they were “low IQ” and threatening to “send them back from where they came from – as fast as possible”. Both women are US citizens.
‘Nobel prize for fiction’: reactions to Trump’s State of the Union
Congressional Democrats lined up on Tuesday night to call Trump a liar and Republicans said the US had never been greater. The country’s longest-ever State of the Union address had ended, and the two parties had, again, watched entirely different speeches.
Trump’s address ran for nearly two hours, with the president touching on tariffs, border security, military recruitment and energy production, among other topics. He told the country the economy was booming, inflation was under control and a golden age was at hand, but Democrats were not persuaded.
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Omar guest arrested for standing during Trump address
A guest of Omar, a Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota, was arrested by Capitol police during the State of the Union address.
Omar had invited Aliya Rahman, a US citizen and Minneapolis resident who in January was removed from her car and dragged by immigration agents in the city as part of the Trump administration’s increased efforts to arrest and deport alleged undocumented immigrants. The officers had been shouting at her to move.
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Vance says Minnesota’s Medicaid funds halted as part of Trump’s ‘war on fraud’
Vance announced on Wednesday that the Trump administration would “temporarily halt” more than a quarter of a billion dollars in Medicaid reimbursements to the state of Minnesota, escalating Trump’s newly announced “war on fraud”.
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Judge rules Trump deportation flights to ‘third countries’ unlawful
The Trump administration’s latest policy of deporting immigrants to “third countries” to which they have no ties is unlawful and must be set aside, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday in a case that already reached the nation’s highest court.
The US district judge Brian E Murphy in Massachusetts agreed to suspend his decision for 15 days, giving the government time to appeal against his latest ruling in the case.
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Wellness influencer picked by Trump for surgeon general sidesteps vaccine questions
Casey Means, Trump’s nominee for surgeon general of the US, appeared before lawmakers on the Senate committee for health, labor and pensions on Wednesday, after her initial confirmation hearing was postponed in October when she went into labor hours before she was set to testify.
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FBI investigations hindered by Kash Patel, whistleblower tells top Democrat
A top Senate Democrat alleged on Tuesday that the FBI director Kash Patel’s personal travel and decision-making have undermined high-profile investigations, citing a whistleblower report.
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What else happened today:
Catching up? Here’s what happened Tuesday 24 February.
