Harger: Trump calls Democrats ‘crazy’ in 2026 State of the Union address, missing a chance to unite the country
Feb 25, 2026, 6:55 AM | Updated: 12:14 pm
In his 1988 State of the Union address, Ronald Reagan stood in the House chamber and said this: “In the spirit of Jefferson, let us affirm that in this chamber tonight there are no Republicans, no Democrats, just Americans. Yes, we will have our differences, but let us always remember what unites us far outweighs whatever divides us.”
Last night, in that same chamber, President Trump said this: “These people are crazy. I’m telling you, they’re crazy. Democrats are destroying our country, but we stopped it just in the nick of time.”
Same room. Thirty-eight years apart. That’s where we are.
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A trap, not a moment
President Trump had one of the largest audiences of his presidency Tuesday night. Millions of Americans were watching at home. A moment that, at least traditionally, belongs to all of us.
He used it to call Democrats crazy.
That’s not a characterization. That’s a quote. He set up a standing ovation trap, asking everyone who agreed with him to rise, then turned to the Democrats still seated and told them twice they should be ashamed of themselves. He accused them of cheating in elections. Not as a policy disagreement. As a character indictment.
I’ve spent a lot of time lately being critical of the Democrats who run Washington state’s government in Olympia. That’s what watchdogs do. Power deserves scrutiny regardless of which party is holding it. Republicans control the federal government right now, so I need to be just as clear-eyed about what I saw last night.
What the State of the Union used to mean
I remember watching Reagan deliver that 1988 address. I remember Bill Clinton standing up there a few years later, trying to find common ground with a Republican Congress that wanted him gone. Whatever you thought of those men, they understood that the State of the Union was a moment to reach for something bigger than their base. To speak not just to the people who voted for you, but to all of us.
Last night was not that.
The fear I carry around
Right now, we’re at relative peace. Fractured and angry and exhausted, but at peace. We have the luxury of writing off half the country as crazy or corrupt or beyond saving.
But it won’t always be this way. Something always happens.
September 11th happened. If you’re over 30, you remember where you were. So do I. And for one brief, painful, clarifying moment, none of that noise mattered. We were just Americans. Nobody asked who you voted for before holding the door, giving blood, or calling to check on a stranger.
I don’t know if we could do that today. That’s a fear I carry around. Because the next crisis is coming. And if we’ve spent years convincing ourselves that the other side isn’t just wrong but evil, isn’t just different but dangerous, I don’t know what we do when we actually need each other.
And we will need each other.
A moment that didn’t happen
A president standing in that chamber last night had one of the largest audiences he will ever have. A chance to speak not just to his supporters but to all of us. A chance to start pushing us back toward each other. Just enough. Just a reminder that we’re still one country.
He didn’t take it.
Instead, think about what we heard from that same room, from that same office, not so long ago. Reagan, closing out his address, talking about this country the way you’d talk about something sacred: “Another generation of Americans has protected and passed on lovingly this place called America, this shining city on a hill, this government of, by, and for the people.”
That America is still here. It’s still worth protecting. It’s still worth passing on.
Charlie Harger is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here. Follow Charlie on X and email him here.
