How to Watch—or Not Watch—Donald Trump’s 2018 State of the Union Address Tonight

Tonight, Donald Trump’s 2018 State of the Union address will be called “presidential” for successfully proving he can read full words and sentences like many 7-year-olds 71-year-olds. As Paul Ryan told Fox News, he’ll take credit for a economic success that was handed to him by his predecessor—which, to be fair, is the only part of the job he has actual experience in—as well as accomplishments like appointing a Supreme Court justice, which must have been difficult after his own party held the seat open for a year to block President Obama and give him the opportunity.

Due to Trump’s love of keeping people in suspense, he’s apparently got a surprise guest coming who he’s probably going to use as a prop for something awful. Although at this point, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if it were Vladimir Putin, the Joker making an appearance to reveal this was his sick plan all along, or … this:

Despite how all this is likely to go down exactly as we imagine it will based on past speeches, propaganda, and rage-tweets, complete with the fascist overtones of the inauguration/administration, you may find yourself compelled to watch anyway, if only because looking away feels like trying to sweep things under the rug. On live TV, you can catch the address on plenty of major networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and C-Span.

For online viewers, it should be available directly on the White House website, as well as the official YouTube page, and on Twitter, with incessant commentary. Alternately, you can keep up with live fact checking on Politifact, where there’s already a preview fact check of topics Trump is likely to cover. The address itself begins tonight at 9PM EST. Another option is to stick to the Democratic responses after the address is over (a time not yet known), with the official one coming from Joe Kennedy, and another from Maxine Waters on BET’s Angela Rye’s State of the Union that promises to be unflinching, as well as one from Bernie Sanders on his Facebook page.

However, you may have had your fill of this nonsense and be totally unconcerned about losing sight of what’s going on here because it’s so obvious to you that it would be impossible for that to happen, and that’s totally fair. (After all, some people can read the writing on the wall/on Twitter and knew this was all festering for some time and is bigger than Trump himself.)

You might want to pay attention to something else entirely. If that’s the case, may we recommend Black Lightning instead? It’s also on at 9, opposite the address if you’re on the east coast, and is probably much better for your state of mind. Or you can watch Citizen Rose (on E! from 8PM–10PM) as your own personal display of solidarity with the Democratic women who are wearing black to the State of the Union to protest sexual harassment and assault.

(image: Ildar vector / Shutterstock.com)

Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!

—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—

Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com

Author

Close

Dan Van Winkle

Dan Van Winkle (he) is an editor and manager who has been working in digital media since 2013, first at now-defunct Geekosystem (RIP), and then at The Mary Sue starting in 2014, specializing in gaming, science, and technology. Outside of his professional experience, he has been active in video game modding and development as a hobby for many years. He lives in North Carolina with Lisa Brown (his wife) and Liz Lemon (their dog), both of whom are the best, and you will regret challenging him at Smash Bros.

twitter Link to www.projectmgame.com