Corporate Media Cover For Dems On Trump’s SOTU Challenge

When President Donald Trump invited members of Congress to stand and affirm that the “first duty of American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens,” not a single Democrat stood.

And the speed with which the propaganda press moved to reframe and obscure the visual, that is, the entire Democrat caucus refusing to stand when asked to affirm their allegiance to American citizens over illegal aliens, proves just how damaging that moment is for Democrats.

CBS News, in a post on X, summarized the moment this way: “President Trump asked members of Congress to stand if they agree with his statement that the first duty of the U.S. government is to protect American citizens, not those in the country illegally. Trump said people who didn’t stand should be ‘ashamed’ of themselves. Some Democrats in the audience interjected, including Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA).”

The headline moment was avoided.

The Washington Post posted on X: “At his State of the Union address, President Trump repeatedly insulted Democrats in the chamber for not supporting his policies — or standing. ‘You should be ashamed of yourself,’ Trump said. ‘These people are crazy.’”

The Post left out Trump’s preceding request that all members of Congress reaffirm that the U.S. government exists to serve Americans first.  

In a separate Washington Post article written by Isaac Arnsdorf entitled “The moment Trump’s State of the Union speech changed,” the outlet zeroed in on the same exchange.

“Then [Trump] asked for a demonstration to show the television audience where everyone stood — or sat,” Arnsdorf wrote, before including the quote about the duty of American government.

“For more than a minute, Republicans stood and applauded, while Trump shook his head and sighed at the Democratic side of the chamber.”

Notably, Arnsdorf neglected to mention that not a single Democrat stood in agreement.

“It also marked an inflection point in Tuesday’s speech, from a first hour whose sunny optimism was more characteristic of Ronald Reagan than Trump, to a second hour that returned the president to the familiar, darker territory of partisan barbs and graphic descriptions of violence,” Arnsdorf continued.

Politico followed a similar pattern, posting on X: “A handful of Democrats shouted back after Trump said Democrats ‘should be ashamed of yourselves’ regarding immigration, including Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar — frequent targets of the president’s attacks.”

Even in the attached article there was no mention of Trump’s loyalty challenge. Instead, the article and social media post leave readers with the impression that Democrats were merely reacting to deportation rhetoric but not the refusal to endorse the idea that Americans come first.

Had the moment been presented honestly and as it happened, no amount of editorial spin could have helped explain away Democrats’ refusal to stand.

Americans didn’t need any commentary to understand what they saw — which is precisely why so much effort went into making sure Americans didn’t see it at all.

Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2