Republican front-runner Donald Trump on Wednesday dismissed President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address as “boring” and “non-substantive”.
“The State Of The Union speech was one of the most boring, rambling and non-substantive I have heard in a long time,” Trump said in a tweet late last night.
“New leadership fast!” said the Republican presidential front-runner as he led the party in criticising Obama’s State of the Union Address.
>Obama used his final State of the Union address to paint a hopeful portrait of America under his leadership, with a resurgent economy and better standing in the world despite racial inequality and growing menace of home-grown terrorism.
He also used the occasion to hit out at Republican presidential candidates like Donald Trump, who has proposed to temporarily bar all Muslims from travelling to America.
Paul Ryan, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, also reacted dismissively to Obama’s remarks, saying “I can’t say I was disappointed by the president’s speech, but that’s because I wasn’t expecting much.”
“As usual, the President tried to manage people’s perceptions instead of confronting reality. His policies aren’t working. He didn’t have an answer for how to defeat ISIS,” he said.
“If everything were as great as he said it was, two-thirds of the American people would not say the country is on the wrong track. Success does not need hype, it speaks for itself. I just wish the President had levelled with the people or at least with himself,” Ryan said.
In a statement, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus said rather than signal a much-needed course correction, Obama took a “lonely victory lap before a country that is ready to turn the page.”
“The one thing the President made clear tonight is that the next ten months will be all about ensuring he is succeeded by Hillary Clinton, who gives his failed presidency an ‘A’ grade and wants to take his divisive, Left-wing agenda to the next level,” Priebus said.
Top Republican Senator John McCain said Obama decided to start the ‘lame duck’ portion of his presidency early and use his State of the Union address to shape his legacy instead of seriously addressing the challenges faced at home and abroad.
“Our nation does not need lofty words. It needs bold action. Our nation does not need abstract calls to hope. It needs a concrete strategy to confront the challenges of a more dangerous world. Unfortunately, it appears these tasks will be left to the next president,” McCain said.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said the President has appeased, rather than opposed, U.S. adversaries from the start.
“So it is not surprising that in his last State of the Union Address he touted his dangerous nuclear deal with Iran despite their military holding American sailors captive. And when it comes to the terror threat we face, once again we heard the President’s offer rhetoric in the clouds while terrorists plot in our city streets,” McCaul said.
