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White House will use State of the Union for impeachment victory lap

by Rob Crilly

January 30, 2020 04:00 PM

 

The White House is putting next week’s State of the Union address at the center of plans to celebrate President Trump’s impeachment acquittal, with what is intended to be an uplifting message that he is ready to work with Democrats on big-ticket items.

Trump allies say they do not want to prejudge the outcome of the Senate trial and vote. But they are increasingly confident it will be finished in time to use Tuesday’s speech to mark the outcome.

Although an Oval Office address and campaign rallies have been floated as part of an impeachment victory lap, the timing makes the pomp and ceremony of the State of the Union the natural place to begin the next phase of Trump’s presidency, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

That will include an appeal to Democrats to end their feuding and to work together for the American people.

“The president has been consistent in his message: I am ready to work with you,” said a senior administration official.

The president avoided questions from reporters gathered on the South Lawn of the White House on Thursday, much as he has throughout the trial. However, he is scheduled to speak to Sean Hannity for a Fox News interview ahead of the Super Bowl on Sunday.

That offers an opportunity for the president to vent about his opponents before what his supporters hope will be a chance to take a different, more conciliatory tack before a joint session of Congress.

That could still change if the Senate vote is delayed. But Sam Nunberg, who worked on the Trump 2016 campaign, said the timing was shaping up to offer a tailor-made opportunity to deliver a message to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“Of course he should publicize that he has been acquitted,” he said. “But he should also take a magnanimous approach about what a slippery slope this has been, that in spite of all this he has been able to deliver on big-ticket items, and there is the chance to do more now.”

The move reflects White House messaging during the impeachment trial when officials used a number of major policy wins to demonstrate a president hard at work. The past week brought the release of Trump’s long-awaited Middle East plan and the signing of the USMCA trade deal.

Officials said they were confident such split-screen programming — contrasting hours of wearying Senate debate with a president delivering on his promises — was helping the Trump campaign.

“Ever since the Democrats began this nonsense, public polling shows that independents have swung to the president on this,” said a senior campaign official, adding that acquittal and vindication, when it comes, would be at the heart of the reelection effort. “Americans can see what this is: a witch hunt designed to interfere with the 2020 elections.”

That message is already a banner item on fundraising emails and advertising.

“Democrats have tried to overturn the 2016 election with their fake impeachment SCAM,” said a fundraising message attributed to Donald Trump, Jr. on Thursday. “Let’s make sure President Trump wins so big in 2020 that even corrupt Democrats like Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff get the message.”

EM         -> { Trump for 2020 }

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