President Donald Trump continued patting himself on the back over his State of the Union Address (SOTU) over the weekend, gushing about the “great reviews” from his sycophantic supporters. And so, the Internet provided a reality check.
Trump supporters are going to applaud whatever he says or does, and that held true with his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, which immediately received praise from his shrinking base of conservatives.
On Saturday evening, Trump concluded a day of ranting about being impeached by thanking everyone for the “great reviews” of his speech.
Thank you to everyone for all of the great reviews I have gotten on my State of the Union Speech. It was an immense honor for me to have presented it to you and the citizens of our very strong and wonderful Country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2020
Of course, Trump is putting on a false front. Not only was his speech full of lies, it was one of the lowest rated as it suffered a 21 percent drop in audience over the previous year. Just 37 million Americans tuned in.
In fact, by comparison, two former presidents did significantly better.
Former President Bill Clinton’s 1999 State of the Union drew an audience of 43.5 million viewers across ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, and NBC before he was acquitted for his own impeachment. Former President Barack Obama drew a total of 42.8 million viewers, during his third State of the Union in 2011.
Fact-checkers also found that Trump repeatedly lied and misled throughout the speech.
The real star of the show, meanwhile, was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who ripped up Trump’s speech as he finished his remarks.
Americans pointed that out specifically as they piled on the ridicule.
The only thing anyone will ever remember about that speech is Nancy Pelosi ripping it to shreds. pic.twitter.com/mu7lupKfpi
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) February 9, 2020
Many people are saying it was the lowest rated SOTU speech in history… congrats!
— William LeGate ? (@williamlegate) February 9, 2020
I stand with the woman behind you ripping up the transcript of your speech.
— Angela Belcamino (@AngelaBelcamino) February 9, 2020
This how much Lincoln is thought of. Edinburgh the capital of Scotland has a statue of him. Trump will be lucky if he gets a rubbish bin named after him.
— Douglas?????????????#FBPE (@douglasstocks2) February 9, 2020
Ratings for “State of Your Mind Speech” were down 21% from last year. Most Americans watched Ellen’s “Game of Games”
— Chidi®️ (@ChidiNwatu) February 9, 2020
My God, man, can you be anymore embarrassingly insecure and needy? Have you no shame? #Trump
— Andy Ostroy (@AndyOstroy) February 9, 2020
The only thing people remember from that lie-filled SOTU was the Rip Seen ’round the World.
The ratings for the SOTU were down double digits (and we know how much you care about ratings). https://t.co/t6vXMwqHhY pic.twitter.com/VCnpQBGqEE
— D Villella ❄️ (@dvillella) February 9, 2020
‘Waterworld’ got better reviews bro. @realDonaldTrump
— NoelCaslerComedy (@CaslerNoel) February 9, 2020
Featured Image: YouTube screenshot
