Our nation is made up of a powerful citizenry that is heroic in more ways than one, each of us a hero in our own right. President Donald Trump highlighted and celebrated some examples of legendary American individuals, who deserved the standing ovation they received–even on the liberal side of the aisle they earned their applause.

President Donald Trump delivered the 2026 State of the Union Address on February 24, 2026. The guest list included military heroes, crime victims, and athletes.

Notable Presidential & First Lady Guests:

U.S. Men’s and Women’s Hockey Teams: Gold medal winners at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Enrique Márquez: A former Venezuelan political prisoner reunited with his niece, Alejandra Gonzales, during the speech.

Royce Williams: 100-year-old Navy veteran awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Chief Warrant Officer Eric Slover: Pilot awarded the Medal of Honor for the raid to capture Nicolás Maduro.

Erika Kirk: Widow of the late Charlie Kirk.

National Guard Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe: Survivor of a shooting attack in Washington, D.C.

Sierra Burns: A 10-year-old student and participant in the Melania Trump Foster Youth program.

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Again, these heroes deserved to be recognized, I just wonder what was behind it. How did Trump use their example to push forward his State of the Union Address to both sides of congress, to the divided nation, and also to a critical world. 

‘Personal is political’, is a relationship that takes what matters to us, as individuals, as families, as communities, and relates that to what is important to all of us together, how we are and who we are as a nation. Inspiring personal examples bring us all together around the social, the political, the nation, and we define ourselves that way, it gives us a sense of identity…a political identity. 

I can only say how it felt to me, I just felt like the actual issues did not surface and instead remained hidden. I felt like Trump used the personal relationships as a way to camouflage how contested his political campaigns are right now, leaving no room to actually question what he was alluding to. 

For example, through the manipulation of someone like Eric Slover, the pilot who was awarded the Medal of Honor for the raid to capture Nicolás Maduro. Undoubtedly a hero, no one can argue with that. Even liberals who are totally against the politics of raiding Venezuela, stood and applauded. What doesn’t happen is to raise any question that this hero might have been crippled for life for the nefarious purposes of Donald Trump. 

This is not ‘personal is political’ in the way it is supposed to be. It is supposed to be empowering, where people’s exemplary actions inspire us all to be a better people and a greater nation. This is taking the inspiring actions of an individual and using it to manipulate a consensus that benefits one politician, namely, Donald Trump. 

No one can contest the heroism of National Guard Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe who was a survivor of a shooting attack in Washington, D.C. Trump used the attack—committed by an Afghan national who entered the U.S. in 2021—to argue that “lax migration policies” are the single greatest national security threat to the country. This is one example of a dangerous immigrant who did terrible things. Andrew Wolfe was undoubtedly a hero who deserved recognition. 

But to take this one person’s bravery who survived one terrible incident as the justification for Trump’s entire dangerous and violent campaign against immigrants in our country! In fact, it would only take one other example of one immigrant who has worked hard for this country, who is a patriot, raised a family, and who contributes to his community–to suggest the opposite. In fact, there are millions of examples of immigrants who make this country beautiful. 

Trump cherry-picks one example to support his own agenda. The unwitting consumer of Trump’s production last night doesn’t provide a space, a moment, for you to question him and what’s being done across our nation to immigrants on his behalf! Shame on you Trump for your sleight of hand, you are supporting a system that is in effect to ruin the lives of millions of people, that is the greatest national security threat to our country. 

Taking one individual and extrapolating from that the logic of his whole campaign against immigrants, Trump strategically solicits a standing ovation from liberal politicians who couldn’t argue against the heroism of the person who Trump made an example of, but who certainly disagree with the politics involved.

Again, no one can argue against the heroism of the Pilot awarded the Medal of Honor. Of course, he’s a hero, no one can argue that, but does that justify using him as a political tool to support a shocking political speech?

With all the grandstanding there wasn’t much of a critical opportunity during the speech, especially for all the people watching who may not know much about these political issues. It felt to me like he was taking something special about those heroes amongst us, and manipulating their example into domineering political misdirection.

I have to admit I don’t follow national politics very closely, and my ignorance was on display watching Trump. I wished that I had more ability to contest the politics he was pushing. I was not armed with the knowledge a citizen should have. Perhaps I would not feel manipulated if I understood the context better. I just felt a little sick that I was missing something, and I was supposed to miss it, and I did not see the sleight of hand that we all should have seen during that production.

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This is meant to be timely, urgent, and pressing