The State of the Union Is Tradition

Guest: Lauren Wright, Lecturer in Politics and Public Affairs, Princeton University President Trump was to deliver his annual State of the Union Address tonight, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rescinded the invitation because of the partial government shutdown. Now they’ve agreed the ceremonial speech will happen next Tuesday. The State of the Union Address usually isn’t the subject of so much intrigue. It’s mostly just a really long speech punctuated by seemingly endless applause after ever sentence. The press covers it breathlessly and then we all forget about it for another year. What’s the point, really?