During his State of the Union address, Donald Trump thought he was being clever. He challenged the Democrats in the chamber: “If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support: The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.”
Needless to say, Democrats did not stand up and show their support.
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, cheered Trump’s challenge. He posted on X after Trump’s speech: “The entire Democrat Party disqualified itself from government service in this one exchange. Nothing like it in U.S. history.”
Nothing like it in U.S. history.
Sure glad I didn’t miss it.
Any sentient human being of course realizes that Trump’s stunt was actually not very clever. This type of challenge simply requires posing a seemingly rhetorical question that demands more than a one-word response. You can’t answer “yes” or “no,” because the question calls for more. You can’t either stand up and cheer or sit quietly. You must explain.
To understand this, put the shoe on a Republican foot: “If you agree with this statement, Republicans, then stand up and show your support: The first duty of the Supreme Court is to uphold the United States Constitution, even against a president’s attempt to impose illegal tariffs.”
Hmmm. That requires more than either standing up and cheering or remaining seated. Republicans might want, for example, to discuss the propriety of Trump’s tariffs, or say something else, to put the question into context.
So, too, Democrats might have wanted to talk about whether it’s the first duty of the government to protect American citizens against illegal aliens, even if that means sending masked troops into American cities and occasionally killing innocent American citizens.
Now that we’re playing this game, I have a few other questions to pose to Republicans. No discussion, now. Either stand up and cheer or remain seated:
The first duty of American customs and immigration enforcement personnel is to protect American citizens, not to kill them.
The first duty of young people in the United States called to serve their country is to answer patriotically, not to evade the draft by ginning up supposed bone spurs.
The first duty of the president is to avoid political violence, not to incite a crowd to attack the Capitol Building and later to pardon those involved in the attack.
America’s first duty is to stand by our allies in times of need, not to threaten to take over Canada or Greenland.
The first duty of high-ranking American officials is to protect America’s secrets, not to post them on Signal chat groups that include editors of magazines.
The first duty of the Department of Health and Human Services is to protect Americans from illness, not to discourage them from taking life-saving vaccines.
The first duty of the Executive Branch is to ensure that justice is blind, not to prosecute your political enemies.
Are you starting to get the idea?
For Trump to think this was clever, and for Miller to think it disqualifies all Democrats from public service, is not quite correct.
In fact, one might say that the first duty of an American president is to speak the truth, whenever possible, to the American people, not to intentionally mislead them for no reason whatsoever.
Care to stand up and cheer?
Mark Herrmann spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and later oversaw litigation, compliance and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law and Drug and Device Product Liability Litigation Strategy (affiliate links). You can reach him by email at inhouse@abovethelaw.com.
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