13 Feb 2019
U.S. project graduate fellows Maraam Dwidar, Connor Dye, E.J. Fagan, Katie Madel and Laura Quaglia analyzed Donald Trump's third State of the Union using the Comparative Agendas Project this week. The post, which ran on The Washington Post's blog, The Monkey Cage, broke down Trump's speech in historical terms:
As has been true for many modern presidents, much of Trump’s address contained no policy content. Quasi-statements classified as having no policy content include platitudes such as “God bless America” and general expressions of thanks. When he did focus on policy, Trump primarily focused on conservative “red meat” policy issues, including law and crime, immigration, and defense.
Notably, Trump was the first president since 1948 with any statements categorized as containing abortion policy content. No past president has highlighted abortion directly in a State of the Union.
Read it on The Monkey Cage.