USA Expert: Trump Delivered Perfect Political Theater
Published in Dagbladet
(Norway) on 31 January 2018
by (link to original)
Trump managed to engage his party colleagues with his first State of the Union address, but the political content was inedible for the Democrats, a United States expert believes. The U.S. president spent a large portion of his 80 minutes at the podium appealing for more unity from the American population and for more cooperation between the country's two major parties. In addition, the president presented a number of suggestions for reform. But the address should not be considered in terms of its political content, according to Søren Rasmussen, U.S. analyst for the Danish political site kongressen.com.
"This was perfect political theater, and we got a president that read directly from the teleprompter with a positive and conciliatory tone," he said. "But there is no doubt the ideas that were presented are completely inedible for the Democrats. Five years ago it would have also been inedible for the Republicans," says Rasmussen. He pointed specifically to Trump's suggestions for immigration compromises. "If the idea was to convince the most important group of people to reach an agreement on immigration - and that's the Democrats - then it failed miserably," said the United States expert.
Trump’s address took place as new polls came to light, showing weakened support for the president. Rasmussen believes this is a large reason why Trump acted in a disciplined way and stuck to the script. "Was it a good presentation? Will it do anything for his popularity? On these points, it was a very successful speech," he says.
"This was perfect political theater, and we got a president that read directly from the teleprompter with a positive and conciliatory tone," he said. "But there is no doubt the ideas that were presented are completely inedible for the Democrats. Five years ago it would have also been inedible for the Republicans," says Rasmussen. He pointed specifically to Trump's suggestions for immigration compromises. "If the idea was to convince the most important group of people to reach an agreement on immigration - and that's the Democrats - then it failed miserably," said the United States expert.
Trump’s address took place as new polls came to light, showing weakened support for the president. Rasmussen believes this is a large reason why Trump acted in a disciplined way and stuck to the script. "Was it a good presentation? Will it do anything for his popularity? On these points, it was a very successful speech," he says.
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