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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
David Smith in Washington

Trump turns Congress speech into a sordid campaign rally, igniting a Democrat fightback

Rep. Nydia Velazquez holds a protest sign with fellow Democrats as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the US Capitol in Washington DC
Rep. Nydia Velazquez holds a protest sign with fellow Democrats as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the US Capitol in Washington DC Photograph: Win McNamee/UPI/REX/Shutterstock

Well, at least he didn’t give a Nazi salute, declare war on Canada or pull the plug on Nato. You never know these days. But this was the night that Donald Trump finally turned the once reverential occasion of a speech to Congress into just another sordid campaign rally.

Deigning to address the branch of government he has so comprehensively sidelined in his first six weeks in office, Trump went off script and went long (a record 100 minutes). He lied, he weaved, demonised immigrants, he sold his economy as the greatest ever, he played the victim, he praised Elon Musk, he lambasted Joe Biden, he repeated himself and he lied some more.

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