At Tuesday evening’s State of the Union address, President Obama touched briefly upon a stream of topics. The broadcast signaled Obama’s official start to an end for his White House era. After discussing gun control, global warming, and ISIS, Obama turned the subject to finding a cancer cure. This presented a warm moment with Joe Biden while standing in this scenario together for the last time.
Obama found some unexpected interest from Kim Davis and a curmudgeonly poker face from Paul Ryan. Once Ryan left his seat, he tweeted the angst he didn’t show onstage. Ryan said he wasn’t “disappointed” by the speech. However, this statement was part of a larger, cattier one.
I can’t say I was disappointed by the president’s speech, but that’s because I wasn’t expecting much. https://t.co/IOVPATMPEu #LastSOTU
— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) January 13, 2016
Our economy is weak. Wages are stagnant. 45 million people are living in poverty. This is not good enough, Mr. President. #LastSOTU
— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) January 13, 2016
Donald Trump tweeted about how freaking boring he found the speech.
The State Of The Union speech was one of the most boring, rambling and non-substantive I have heard in a long time. New leadership fast!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 13, 2016
The #SOTU speech is really boring, slow, lethargic – very hard to watch!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 13, 2016
Trump also took a few seconds to criticize the Iran deal.
The Iran deal is terrible. Why didn't we get the uranium stockpile – it was sent to Russia. #SOTU
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 13, 2016
Marco Rubio spoke with Megyn Kelly about what he sees as Obama’s inadequate level of concern about ISIS. He also accused Obama of “bitterly dividing this country” for his own ends.
I talked with @megynkelly tonight on @foxnews about Obama's final State of the Union address. #SOTUhttps://t.co/oiVaXxCu3n
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) January 13, 2016
Ted Cruz slammed Obama for being in denial about terrorism.
Tonight's speech was less a State of the Union and more a state of denial. #SOTU
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 13, 2016
Ben Carson issued a series of tweets about global warming and ISIS.
President Obama says our biggest security threat is global warming — not Radical Islamic Terrorists who have sworn to attack the U.S. #SOTU
— Ben & Candy Carson (@RealBenCarson) January 13, 2016
Pres. Obama finally speaks about #ISIS but still won't admit that it's a Radical Islamic Terrorist movement that seeks to destroy us. #SOTU
— Ben & Candy Carson (@RealBenCarson) January 13, 2016
Mr. President, you must call the enemy out by name. It is impossible to defeat #ISIS if we do not call evil what it is & act against it.
— Ben & Candy Carson (@RealBenCarson) January 13, 2016
Mr. President, let’s not be concerned if we offend our enemies, let's pay a whole lot more attention to how do we protect our people. #SOTU
— Ben & Candy Carson (@RealBenCarson) January 13, 2016
He’s also not thrilled with Obama’s recent love of executive orders.
"Our Founders distributed power between states and branches of government" & yet you Mr. President excessively issue Executive Orders. #SOTU
— Ben & Candy Carson (@RealBenCarson) January 13, 2016
Rand Paul attacked Obama’s economic policies and says he can do better.
My response to the #SOTU address.https://t.co/sfUk6AsFY3
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 13, 2016
Carly Fiorina spent her post-debate 15 minutes by criticizing how Obama talked about “politics.”
Whereas Hillary Clinton still thinks she’s your abuela. She also said Obama did a good job with the economy.
.@POTUS ha mantenido la economía fuerte y el país seguro. Eso es lo que el presidente tiene que hacer. Es su deber. #SOTU
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) January 13, 2016
Couldn't agree more with @POTUS: We need to make voting easier, not harder. #SOTU
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) January 13, 2016
And Bernie Sanders said the State of the Union address was “important.”
Tonight’s speech was important. The president reminded us not to be afraid of change, but to wield it to improve the lives of all Americans.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 13, 2016