Political speeches aim to inspire and influence, to slant and spin, to flatter and fool. But when those aims become the only aims, and reason disappears beneath rhetoric, something important is lost. Imagine getting it back.
I want to begin, tonight, with some praise for President Trump. Growing up I was always told to look for the good in people, and tonight our President did say some things that look pretty good. And I would love nothing more than to see President Trump keep up those good appearances, and keep saying things that look this good, and then go past talk and on into action, to actually do things that look this good.
I am glad that tonight President Trump seemed to have finally remembered his promises about infrastructure that he’d forgotten for three long years. I am glad also that tonight President Trump seemed to have finally learned some of the great ideas that we Democrats and Independents and Moderates and Liberals have been fighting for these past three years. Or for a whole lot longer than that, for so many of my deeply dedicated colleagues like Representative Lewis. Representative Clyburn. Senator Warren. Senator Sanders.
Patriots like these have worked for a very, very long time to write and to pass legislation that actually serves the American people. In fact the time they’ve put into that noble work is matched only by the length of time that Majority Leader McConnell would like to delay and hinder that work.
But perhaps, Mr. President, you could ask him to do you a favor. And if he grants that favor, then yes, we will be thrilled for you to finally join us in saying, of course! Of course we should provide high quality childcare. Of course we should provide paid family leave for mothers and fathers. Of course we should fund vocational education. Of course we should fund our historically black colleges and universities. Of course we should plant trees.
So President Trump—you keep looking this good. You keep talking this way. You start acting on that talk. And we look forward to joining you in serving the American people.
And there’s another way I want you to keep looking good, Mr. President. You looked real good tonight when you talked like you were talking to all Americans. When you talked to your fellow Americans who might look different or speak different or worship different. When you talked to Tuskegee Airman Charles McGee, and to Border Patrol Agent Raul Ortiz, and to budding young scholar Janiyah Davis. Mr. President, keep talking like this. And remember, Mr. President, that people like Mr. McGee and Mr. Ortiz and Ms. Davis, people who might not look like you or talk like you or pray like you—they are every bit as American as you.
In all honesty, you seem to forget that sometimes, Mr. President. In fact, Mr. President, you seemed to forget it in this very speech. Because Mr. President, how can you remember that Americans have tan skin and brown skin as well as white skin, and remember that Americans speak Spanish and Portuguese and Creole as well as English—and then tell us your horror stories about people who look that way and speak that way?
How can you do that when the American people know, Mr. President, that what you’re saying can’t be quite right? Maybe they can’t all explain exactly what’s getting left out where it should be or put in where it shouldn’t, but they can see something’s off. There’s something there that doesn’t sit right. Something that doesn’t smell right. Something that doesn’t feel right.
That’s because Mr. President, it’s not right. Here’s the truth, Mr. President. There are some bad people in this world, you can’t deny it. And some of em look like you others of em don’t. And any group of people, no matter which way you wanna group em, is going to have bad people in it.
That’s the truth. But it’s a damn lie, Mr. President, when you try to twist that around, and make people angry, and make people afraid, and make people feel like they need to protect themselves from anybody who looks or talks or prays different.
And you know what, Mr. President, it’s a lie that I don’t think can keep working for you for too much longer. Because the American people are smarter than that, and the American people are better than that. And they can see, every last one of em, even the ones that love you the most—they can see what’s in front of their own eyes. They can see the good people they live with and work with and shop with who might dress or talk different but by golly love their families just the same. And love their neighbors just the same. And love this country just the same.
And there’s another thing, Mr. President. Americans know where they came from. We don’t all know as much, and we don’t all talk about it as much, but every one of us knows that we got to this wonderful country of ours, with so much promise, and such precious freedom, from a whole lot of other places that at some time or another had less. From places where people were hurting. Where people were hungry, were poor, were facing violence, were facing desperation. And maybe we don’t all agree on what all that means, and how exactly we oughta run our borders or our asylum system or our immigration system. But we know we’re gonna have to figure it out together, Mr. President. And we know we’re gonna have to find ways to do it that serve our interests and our values at the same time. And we know, Mr. President, that we can’t ever, ever let it get us so mixed up that we start thinking or talking like any American ain’t a real American because he looks different than we do.
That’s the truth, Mr. President. So I ask you, Mr. President, to look better than this. To be better than this.
I ask the same on the economy. Mr. President, how can you lie to the American people about the economy they’re living in? About their jobs and their paychecks and their mortgages? About their rent and bills and debts? The American people know the truth, Mr. President. Even the supporters of yours who love you the most know what they see with their own eyes. The American people know, Mr. President, that their bank accounts are down, even if stock prices might be up. They know that they need healthcare, Mr. President, just like every person in the world does, but there’s never been a person yet who needed health insurance. Not any more than there’s been a person who needed health insurance premiums or health insurance co-pays or health insurance denials.
So Mr. President, where tonight you’ve lied to us, I ask you to stop. Stop lying to the American people. But at the same time Mr. President, I do sincerely hope that there were other times you were telling the truth tonight. I hope you told the truth when you told the American people that you were finally ready to get to work on infrastructure. On high quality childcare. On paid family leave. On vocational education. I hope you were telling the truth, Mr. President, and so do the American people. We’ll all know soon enough.
Check out a partial analysis of this speech here.