Trump’s State of the Union speech ‘full of theatrics and falsehoods’: Analyst

US President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday was overshadowed by his theatrics and falsehoods, as well as distortions about the US economy, a political analyst in Maryland says.

“The State of the Union Speech was pretty much a theatre of the absurd, but it also showed the true colors of everyone involved,” said Myles Hoenig, who ran for Congress in 2016 as a Green Party candidate.

Trump used his speech to award the highest US civilian honor to polarizing radio show host Rush Limbaugh in one of several attention-grabbing moments staged by the former reality TV star-turned-president.

Trump also described Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate president of the South American nation, further expressing his support for a figure that has been at daggers-drawn with the country’s democratically-elected President Nicolas Maduro in a yearslong political stalemate.

“As a speech goes, regardless of the content, it was very good on rhetoric. With plenty of theatrics that only a reality game show host could muster, it very likely gave Trump a bump in the ratings, for now,” Hoenig said in an interview with Press TV on Wednesday.

“Two of the most disgusting moments of bi-partisanship was the awarding of the Medal of Freedom to Rush Limbaugh and the standing ovation for Guiado, the usurper of power in Venezuela,” added.

“America pretends to be a voice for freedom and self-determination all over the world, except that it isn’t. In the chamber was Juan Guaido, who attempted to overthrow the democratically elected president of Venezuela, and just recently snubbed by the EU. Led by Nancy Pelosi, the entire House gave him the respect that could only be offered by a fascist assembly.”

Trump said he was awarding the presidential Medal of Freedom to Limbaugh “in recognition of all you have done for our nation.” Some Democratic lawmakers were heard groaning “oh no” in response to the award.

Limbaugh, a leading voice of the political right, has for decades been at the center of the country’s culture wars. He has been a nemesis of the American left since the launch of his pioneering show in 1985 during the Republican revolution of President Ronald Reagan.

“Rush Limbaugh has been a radio voice for the ultra-right for decades. He has personified hate speech by employing outright crudeness, racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and fascism on the air and for this he was given a standing ovation by a majority of the House, including Democrats,” Hoenig said.

“In a way, the full House was giving Trump the ovation as his thoughts and actions mirror that of Limbaugh’s. This shows all of their true colors.”

Trump’s exaggerated ‘great American comeback’

Trump’s speech drew on falsehoods about American energy supremacy and the economy as well as distortions about his predecessor’s record, according to fact-checking by The Associated Press.

He inflated manufacturing gains, misrepresented policy on migrant detention and glossed over a rate of economic growth that has yet to reach the scale he promised, according to the AP.

“Every president lies or exaggerates during a State of the Union Address but true to form, very little of what Trump said last night was truthful. So many of his ‘successes’ were continuations of the previous administration, which he derided throughout the speech,” Hoenig said.

“His numbers were cooked, and of course left out what any of it meant. For example, yes the stock market is on the rise. But that only means rich people are getting richer, and nearly half of all Americans don’t even have stocks, let alone enough to make any real difference in their lives.”

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www.presstv.co.uk