CNN host Jake Tapper has called out President Donald Trump for the latter’s remarks during the State of the Union address on Tuesday, February 24. Tapper slammed the president for his “nasty” attacks on Democrats during his speech.
Trump, who is known for his long speeches, spoke for 108 minutes at the address, setting a new record. He surpassed former President Bill Clinton, who delivered a 88-minute speech at the State of the Union in 2000.
As soon as Trump’s address ended, Tapper expressed his opinion on the president’s marathon speech, saying that he made “some very sharp, very partisan, even nasty attacks on Democrats.” His comments came after the president targeted his Democratic rivals at the Union address.
Trump on Democrats not standing up during what he believes should be applause lines during his speech: “These people are crazy, I’m telling you. They’re crazy.” pic.twitter.com/D5ECDVfQlw
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) February 25, 2026
At one point during his speech, Trump asked everyone who believed “the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens,” to “stand up.” A number of Democrats present there, including Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, did not stand up.
Referring to them, Trump said, “Isn’t that a shame? You should be ashamed of yourself, not standing up. You should be ashamed of yourself.” When he began continuing his speech thereafter, Minnesota Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and Michigan Democrat Rashida Tlaib interrupted the president.
Trump claimed that the Somali community in Minnesota “have pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayer,” referring to the recent daycare fraud scheme in the state. In response, Omar and Tlaib called him a “liar.”
Trump retorted back, “You should be ashamed of yourself,” before claiming that he was dealing with “sick people.” He continued his attack on Democrats and said that children should be banned from changing their gender. “We must ban it and we must ban it immediately,” he said.
Jake Tapper whines that Trump called out Democrats as “crazy” during his State of the Union address.
“Well here’s my question. Are we ever going back to normal? I mean, are we ever coming to a back to a place where you can’t just call the other party crazy in the State of the… pic.twitter.com/9yb6to2QiN
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) February 25, 2026
When some Democrats reportedly did not stand up to show agreement with his comments, Trump shouted at them, “These people are crazy. I’m telling you! They’re crazy!” He continued, “Democrats are destroying our country. But we’ve stopped it just in the nick of time.”
Following the speech, Tapper stated, “I do not doubt that his supporters will absolutely love this speech and his critics will find much to hate about it.”
The CNN host added that Trump gave a “rousing description of the United States of America that he sees when he looks out the window even if it isn’t the one that most Americans, according to polls, see, in terms of the economic prosperity.”
Tapper was referring to a CNN poll that showed that at least 68 percent of Americans felt that Trump had strayed from the nation’s critical issues, while only 32 percent believed that he focused on the right things.
