President Donald Trump leaned into his base during a speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, portraying the administration’s actions — from renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America to removing the “poison of critical race theory from public schools” — as part of a “common sense revolution” that is “sweeping the world.” The nearly 90-minute speech was a marked departure from attempts at unity in previous joint addresses to Congress, but it was not unexpected, according to Northeastern University political science experts.
Pablo Calderon-Martinez, associate professor of international relations, likened the speech more to a Trump political rally than an aspirational speech about coming together. “He’s trying to reinforce his message and really reinforce his vision of America to what he sees as his main constituents and the people that voted for him and the Republican Party in particular,” Calderon-Martinez said.
Nick Beauchamp, associate professor of political science, said the speech was more akin to Trump’s 2017 “American carnage” inaugural address than in the style of a State of the Union.
