Former prosecutor turned MSNBC legal analyst Joyce Vance analyzed President Donald Trump’s whopper of a State of the Union address to Congress (that clocked in at a mind-numbing 99 minutes) and ultimately condensed the fiasco down to two main moments that, in her opinion, were “worth noting, as markers of where we are” as a country.
Vance’s analysis came in a recent Substack article, where she broke Donald’s SOTU address down into two categories: “The Stupid” and “The Corrupt.”
When analyzing the first moment she dubbed as “The Stupid,” Vance quoted Donald Trump himself when he said: “I have created the brand new Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. Perhaps. Which is headed by Elon Musk, who is in the gallery tonight.”
The former prosecutor said this moment was marked as “The Stupid” because “That’s not what the Justice Department has been telling judges in litigation involving the Musk-led effort to privatize government.”
“They’ve been doing everything they can to claim Musk is not in charge of DOGE, including telling the judge that a woman named Amy Gleason, who was on vacation in Mexico when they made the representation to the court, is the Acting Administrator,” she explains.
As a result, one opposing counsel instantly filed a “Notice of New Evidence” in “Lentini v. DOGE, one of three cases that have been consolidated to hear claims about DOGE’s legality in the District of Maryland,” Vance wrote. She goes on to explain that, worst case scenario, “someone gets held in contempt, either civil or criminal.”
Vance writes that the second notable moment, she has dubbed as “The Corrupt,” took place when Donald Trump broke an unspoken rule and blatantly greeted the Justices of the United States Supreme Court as though they were his personal buddies.
The sitting US president warmly shook hands with the justices who were present at the SOTU address, Elena Kagan, “Thank you very much, appreciate it,” before turning to address Chief Justice John Roberts and saying, “Thank you again. Thank you again,” as he gave the Chief Justice a chummy slap on the shoulder, adding, “Won’t forget it.”
“The moment has an almost classic mob boss feel to it in context,” Vance said.
“The Justices are supposed to protect the integrity and impartiality of the court from even the appearance of impropriety. Last night, and regardless of the truth of the matter, they permitted Donald Trump to insinuate that they are on his side, his captives.”
You can read her full Substack article here.
Featured image via screen capture