Dem compares Trump’s speech to Jekyll and Hyde

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) isn’t convinced that President Trump’s softer tone in his address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night is a sign of a new approach.

In a speech on the House floor just over 12 hours after Trump delivered his first congressional address, Speier said his ability to stay on message and read from a teleprompter stood in contrast to his defiant and angry tweets and campaign-style speeches that have caused headaches for fellow Republicans.

She compared Trump’s disciplined performance before Congress and his aggrieved White House press conference two weeks ago to the famed literary characters Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

{mosads}“Last night, he showed a calm and civilized face to the nation,” Speier said. “We’ve seen the president’s Mr. Hyde face in his tweets and his unhinged press conference. I think the question before us now is, will a single night of soothing platitudes be sufficient?

“What we do know is that Dr. Jekyll could not suppress his dark side. The question is, can the president?”

Trump declared that “the time for trivial fights is behind us” during his address, pointedly gesturing toward the Democrats seated before him.

It drew derisive laughter from the lawmakers, who gestured right back at him as if to say he should go first.

Trump did draw bipartisan praise for honoring the widow of Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens, who died during a raid in Yemen last month. Tears streamed down Carryn Owens’s face as members of both parties gave her a two-minute standing ovation.

Yet earlier Tuesday, Trump appeared to blame the generals who planned the raid for Owens’s death. NBC News, citing U.S. officials, reported this week that the raid has so far not yielded any significant intelligence. 

Speier, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, called Trump’s comments shifting responsibility to the generals “indescribable.”

“This disgraceful abandonment of responsibility makes a mockery of the grief of Chief Petty Officer Owens’s widow, who wept in front of all of the American people watching the speech on TV last night,” she said.

“I agree that we must never forget Ryan Owens’s sacrifice. And that is why we must understand the circumstances that led to his death and follow through with his parents’ request for an independent investigation.”