FLASHBACK: Media Elitists Despised Trump’s Addresses to Congress

Geoffrey Dickens
February 23rd, 2026 10:00 AM

Text to Speech

00:00 00:00
Font Size

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump will deliver his State of the Union address to Congress. If past coverage of his joint speeches before Congress is an indicator, expect the elitist media to start bashing it within minutes of its finish. 

In Trump’s first term, journalists used the occasion to mock Trump’s intelligence, call him a divider, a liar and a racist. Trump’s first address to Congress (after he returned to office in 2025) drew negative reviews too. NBC’s Tom Llamas worried that his second term would be “incredibly reckless.” 

The following is a look back (via the MRC’s archives) at how the media trashed Trump’s State of the Union speeches as “psychotically incoherent” tirades, full of lies, and even “dog poop”:

 

2017

 

No Way Trump Is Smart Enough To Know Those Big Words

 

 

“The way President Trump speaks extemporaneously is not the same as what he said tonight. It sounded, to me, and this is just — I mean, I thought it was — he sounded very presidential. This was a speech written by a college student for someone else trying to use big words to impress that the person who is reciting it did not know the meaning of the words. That’s how it sounded.”
— Host Don Lemon discussing Trump’s address to Congress on CNN Tonight, March 1, 2017. 

 

2018

 

Trump “Actively Betraying the Country”

 

 

“It was an odd feeling watching this speech....I don’t remember a time when you would watch a State of the Union address being delivered by a President who is, I guess you could say, actively betraying the country.” 
— Political analyst Ron Reagan Jr on MSNBC’s live coverage of the State of the Union, January 31, 2018. (12:53am ET).

 

Trump Utters Taboo Words: “Church” “Family” “Military”

“Church...family...police... military...the national anthem...Trump trying to call on all the tropes of 1950s-era nationalism. The goal of this speech appears to be to force the normalization of Trump on the terms of the bygone era his supporters are nostalgic for. #SOTU”
— January 30, 2018 tweet by MSNBC’s AM Joy host Joy Reid.

 

How Dare Trump Talk “Tough” About Criminal Gang

Host Chris Matthews: “It almost got ugly. Very tough about saying immigrants are basically killers. MS-13. Beginning a discussion about immigration in a country of immigrants with crime. And that was his way of opening up the discussion like I’m protecting us from criminal elements. I thought that got very ugly about that point.”...
Political analyst Eugene Robinson: “I thought he was demagogic on immigration. I mean, that’s when the speech got sort of dark.”...
— MSNBC’s live coverage of the State of the Union speech, January 31, 2018. 

“I felt like he [Trump] spoke more to his base than I expected him to, particularly on immigration and that could be part of his sales pitch. Maybe he knows that amnesty for 1.8 million is something his base doesn’t like, so he led with the, let me paint the picture of the –  this mythical immigrant criminal here that I want everybody to get fired up about.”
— Meet the Press host Chuck Todd on NBC News live coverage of State of the Union, January 30, 2018.

 

ABC Meltdown Over Trump SOTU

 

 

Host George Stephanopoulos: “One thing is pretty clear, Jon. He did not unify that chamber tonight.”
Correspondent Jonathan Karl: “George, I’ve never seen anything like it. Right now, the Democrats have basically run for the exits. I mean, usually when the President leaves, you still have members applauding. He did not unify this chamber, particularly on the issue of immigration. Not a single Democratic applause on his immigration proposal.”
— Exchange during ABC News live coverage of the State of the Union speech, January 30, 2018. 

“Calling this a healing speech is almost like calling, going on a diet by drinking a Diet Coke and eating a pizza. That’s as much of a healing speech this was....”
— ABC News political analyst Matthew Dowd during live coverage of the State of the Union speech, January 30, 2018.

 

2019

 

“Blood-Soaked” Speech Full of “Hate and Lies” and “Dog Poop”

 

 

“How can anyone see this as a good speech? How can anyone see this as unifying when he is spewing out lies to the American people?...This is an angry, racist platform that has been surrounded by sweet stories and World War II veterans....but the bottom line is his platform is based on hate and lies, bottom line.”
— Host Mika Brzezinski on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, February 6, 2019.

 

 

“I saw this as a psychotically incoherent speech with cookies and dog poop. He tries to put together in the same speech these warm kind things about humanitarianism and caring about children. At the same time, he is demonizing people who are immigrants in a way that was appalling.”
— CNN analyst Van Jones during CNN’s post-State of the Union coverage, February 5, 2019.

 

 

“You would think after the longest shutdown he might temper his language, but it was as blood-soaked and lawless and fantastical in terms of the relation to the truth as ever.” 
— New York Times columnist Frank Bruni on Comedy Central’s post-State of the Union address edition of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, February 5, 2019.

 

Chuck’s Absurd Assertions

“[The State of the Union speech] is shaping up to be a night of absurdist theater. Absurd because the White House says the President’s address is going to be about bipartisanship, unity, compromise...Absurd because tonight’s address was delayed because of an act of over partisanship, when the President himself decided to engineer a 35-day government shutdown over a border wall that he promised to his political base....Absurd because the President is seemingly going to act like everything is normal, despite a cracked up cabinet, despite his ongoing feud with the intel community, countless investigations into him, his staff, his campaign, his business, and even now his inauguration.”
— Host Chuck Todd on MSNBC’s MTP Daily, February 5, 2019.

 

Trump’s “Eerily Offensive” and “Dark Vision of the Country”

 

 

“It was a dark vision of a country. It was very Trumpian....The President essentially threatened an end to the economic growth of the country if he was not protected at all costs...I was also struck by his use of every day Americans....Holocaust survivors, people who have lost family members to violence, using them as pawns for his own political purposes and talking about them in terms of patriotism when....the President and his administration have done nothing but debase our democratic values and the values that we hold dear as Americans. So I found that picture eerily offensive.”
— New York Times Editorial Board member Mara Gay on MSNBC’s post-State of the Union special, February 6, 2019.

 

2020

 

Hating Trump’s Honoring of Rush Limbaugh

 

 

“You’re talking about the Tuskegee Airmen and then you’re giving the Medal of Freedom to Rush Limbaugh during Black History Month....How are you really honoring what the Tuskegee Airmen represent if you have Rush Limbaugh in the same ceremony?” 
— Host Chris Cuomo on post-State of the Union coverage as aired on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time, February 5, 2020. 

“Opinion: What’s next – giving the Presidential Medal of Freedom to David Duke?”
— February 5, 2020 tweet from Washington Post’s official twitter account.

 

“Finger-In-the-Eye” to Democrats

 

 

“It [presenting Rush Limbaugh with Medal of Freedom] was the President trolling the Democrats....Honoring Rush Limbaugh, in that moment....to do it on the House floor was definitely a finger-in-the-eye of [Nancy] Pelosi, a finger-in-the-eye of the Democrats.”
— NBC’s Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd during NBC News post-State of the Union coverage, February 4, 2020.

 

Trashing Trump’s “Bizarre” “Dark” State of the Union

“The dark parts were dark. The bizarre parts were bizarre, down to the awarding of the Medal of Freedom to Rush Limbaugh by the First Lady during the speech.”
— Anchor Brian Williams on MSNBC’s post-State of the Union coverage, February 4, 2020. 

 

2025

 

Will a One-Term Trump Be Tempted to Be “Incredibly Reckless?”

“Since he’s [Donald Trump] not running for re-election, do you think that’s a super power, or do you think that’s sort of a gateway to temptation to be incredibly reckless?”
— NBC senior national correspondent Tom Llamas to former Trump White House press secretary J. Hogan Gidley on NBC News Now live coverage of Trump address to Congress, March 4, 2025.

 

Maddow Disgusted By Trump’s Tribute to Pediatric Cancer Survivor D.J. Daniel

 

 

“For the record, and this is disgusting, the President made a spectacle out of praising a young man who thus far survived pediatric cancer, as if the President had something to do with that. This was in the midst of him praising DOGE. The DOGE cuts, among other things, have cut off funding for ongoing research into pediatric cancer.”
— Host Rachel Maddow on MSNBC’s live coverage of President Donald Trump’s address to Congress, March 4, 2025. 

 

Wallace Ghoulishly Ties Cancer Survivor’s Story to January 6

 

 

“I’ve let myself feel joy about D.J. [Daniel] and I hope he’s alive for another, you know, 95 years. Right? And I hope he lives the life he wants to live. He wants to be a cop. He knows what he wants to do. And maybe when you have childhood cancer, that crystallizes for you, and I hope he has a long life as a law enforcement officer, but I hope he never has to defend the United States Capitol against Donald Trump’s supporters. And if he does, I hope he isn’t one of the six who loses his life to suicide. And I hope he isn’t one who has to testify against the people who carried out acts of seditious conspiracy and then live to see Donald Trump pardon those people.”
— Host Nicolle Wallace on MSNBC’s live coverage of President Donald Trump’s address to Congress, March 4, 2025. 

Donor Privacy Policy