Summer Lee Knows the Real State of the Union
This is why trust is collapsing.
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Politics
/ February 24, 2026
Summer Lee Knows the Real State of the Union
The progressive representative from Pennsylvania will speak truth to Trump’s power tonight.
John Nichols
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Summer Lee (D-PA) participates in a public forum on the violent use of force by Department of Homeland Security agents, at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on February 3, 2026.
(Aaron Schwartz / Getty Images)
President Donald Trump will deliver his annual State of the Union address Tuesday night, and the vast majority of Americans already know how it will go, because we’ve seen it all, and heard it all, before. Trump will try to stick to his script. He will fail. He will say outrageous, irresponsible, and dangerous things. He will drive even more wedges of division into a nation that is already divided because of his decade-long assault on the basic premises of the American experiment. The only real question is how quickly and how completely the speech will go off the rails.
What may distinguish this year’s address is the desperation Trump feels about how dramatically his approval ratings have tanked. A new American Research Group survey finds 62 percent of voters disapprove of how he is handling his job. A new CNN/SSRS poll puts the disapproval number at 63 percent. If that weren’t enough, results from special elections across the country suggest that independent voters are swinging toward Democratic candidates. Stock markets are in turmoil. Americans are in open revolt against the data centers that are the most easily targeted face of the tech-bro AI grift that the White House has so enthusiastically endorsed. International relations are in crisis, and wars that the people absolutely do not want appear to be looming on Trump’s horizon. And then there’s the devastating blow that the normally Trump-friendly Supreme Court dealt to the tariffs at the heart of the president’s miserable excuse for an economic plan.
Amid all of this turmoil and decline, Americans could be excused for looking away from the State of the Union. But this is not a time for apathy. This is a time for clarity, and US Representative Summer Lee (D-PA) intends to provide it.
In one of several responses to the SOTU address—including an official Democratic rebuttal from newly elected Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger—Lee says she plans to use her remarks on behalf of the Working Families Party to go to the heart of the matters facing this country.
Current Issue
March 2026 Issue
Well aware of the violent chaos that resulted from the administration’s decision to surge masked and armed ICE agents into Minneapolis, Chicago, …
This is why trust is collapsing.
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Current Issue
Politics
/ February 24, 2026
Summer Lee Knows the Real State of the Union
The progressive representative from Pennsylvania will speak truth to Trump’s power tonight.
John Nichols
Share
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X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
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Summer Lee (D-PA) participates in a public forum on the violent use of force by Department of Homeland Security agents, at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on February 3, 2026.
(Aaron Schwartz / Getty Images)
President Donald Trump will deliver his annual State of the Union address Tuesday night, and the vast majority of Americans already know how it will go, because we’ve seen it all, and heard it all, before. Trump will try to stick to his script. He will fail. He will say outrageous, irresponsible, and dangerous things. He will drive even more wedges of division into a nation that is already divided because of his decade-long assault on the basic premises of the American experiment. The only real question is how quickly and how completely the speech will go off the rails.
What may distinguish this year’s address is the desperation Trump feels about how dramatically his approval ratings have tanked. A new American Research Group survey finds 62 percent of voters disapprove of how he is handling his job. A new CNN/SSRS poll puts the disapproval number at 63 percent. If that weren’t enough, results from special elections across the country suggest that independent voters are swinging toward Democratic candidates. Stock markets are in turmoil. Americans are in open revolt against the data centers that are the most easily targeted face of the tech-bro AI grift that the White House has so enthusiastically endorsed. International relations are in crisis, and wars that the people absolutely do not want appear to be looming on Trump’s horizon. And then there’s the devastating blow that the normally Trump-friendly Supreme Court dealt to the tariffs at the heart of the president’s miserable excuse for an economic plan.
Amid all of this turmoil and decline, Americans could be excused for looking away from the State of the Union. But this is not a time for apathy. This is a time for clarity, and US Representative Summer Lee (D-PA) intends to provide it.
In one of several responses to the SOTU address—including an official Democratic rebuttal from newly elected Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger—Lee says she plans to use her remarks on behalf of the Working Families Party to go to the heart of the matters facing this country.
Current Issue
March 2026 Issue
Well aware of the violent chaos that resulted from the administration’s decision to surge masked and armed ICE agents into Minneapolis, Chicago, …
Summer Lee Knows the Real State of the Union
This is why trust is collapsing.
Log In
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Password *
Remember Me
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Summer Lee Knows the Real State of the Union
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Magazine
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Economy
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Current Issue
Politics
/ February 24, 2026
Summer Lee Knows the Real State of the Union
The progressive representative from Pennsylvania will speak truth to Trump’s power tonight.
John Nichols
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Edit
Ad Policy
Summer Lee (D-PA) participates in a public forum on the violent use of force by Department of Homeland Security agents, at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on February 3, 2026.
(Aaron Schwartz / Getty Images)
President Donald Trump will deliver his annual State of the Union address Tuesday night, and the vast majority of Americans already know how it will go, because we’ve seen it all, and heard it all, before. Trump will try to stick to his script. He will fail. He will say outrageous, irresponsible, and dangerous things. He will drive even more wedges of division into a nation that is already divided because of his decade-long assault on the basic premises of the American experiment. The only real question is how quickly and how completely the speech will go off the rails.
What may distinguish this year’s address is the desperation Trump feels about how dramatically his approval ratings have tanked. A new American Research Group survey finds 62 percent of voters disapprove of how he is handling his job. A new CNN/SSRS poll puts the disapproval number at 63 percent. If that weren’t enough, results from special elections across the country suggest that independent voters are swinging toward Democratic candidates. Stock markets are in turmoil. Americans are in open revolt against the data centers that are the most easily targeted face of the tech-bro AI grift that the White House has so enthusiastically endorsed. International relations are in crisis, and wars that the people absolutely do not want appear to be looming on Trump’s horizon. And then there’s the devastating blow that the normally Trump-friendly Supreme Court dealt to the tariffs at the heart of the president’s miserable excuse for an economic plan.
Amid all of this turmoil and decline, Americans could be excused for looking away from the State of the Union. But this is not a time for apathy. This is a time for clarity, and US Representative Summer Lee (D-PA) intends to provide it.
In one of several responses to the SOTU address—including an official Democratic rebuttal from newly elected Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger—Lee says she plans to use her remarks on behalf of the Working Families Party to go to the heart of the matters facing this country.
Current Issue
March 2026 Issue
Well aware of the violent chaos that resulted from the administration’s decision to surge masked and armed ICE agents into Minneapolis, Chicago, …
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