I’m Dr Frank Luntz. As you can see in front of you, we’ve got 14 Americans from 12 different states, and we’re going to be talking about Donald Trump his presentation before Congress. Like it or hate it, agree or disagree. In the end, there is no right answer, because these are the answers from the American people. And there’s something special about the people you’re looking at right now. They have voted for Donald Trump and they voted against him. They’ve seen all sides of the issue, and so they’re especially qualified to get the evaluations of that speech and of the president so far. So, let’s get right to it. So, what was your reaction to President Trump’s speech before Congress? In a sense, Michelle from Florida,
he was very focused on the past and he sounded insecure.
Eric from Ohio
thought it was a better version of Trump than he was in his prior four-year term.
Selassie from California,
he was very strict to the point and very articulate in some aspects of his delivery.
Tiffany from Texas,
it was a lot of focus driven points without giving facts.
Joseph from New York, he didn’t show any sense of unity between both parties.
Brittany from Michigan,
it was a lot of blame on the previous administration and the division.
Thomas from DC, it was
his opportunity to vent at people he perceived has wronged him.
Brian from Arizona, he spent too much time referring to the previous administration and other people to blend instead of naming specifics which he intends to implement.
Edward from Georgia,
he outlined his achievements for the first six weeks in office and outline what he intended to do for the next four years. Robin
from Nevada,
there were a lot of good ideas. I just hope that they will work.
Genesis from Washington,
he spent a lot of time comparing the previous president to what he’s going to do today, and a lot of blaming
will from New Jersey. I
think he went basically on the attack on the previous administration.
So, by a show of hands, who thought he was better than you expected him to be. Raise your hands. 1234567, who thought he was worse than you expect him to be? 123456, Eric, why was he better than you expected?
He seemed more humanizing, I guess is the word I would use, like that, grandpa, fun loving grandpa vibe they tried to sell at the RNC kind of saw a little bit more of that than the prior four years, when he would give speeches and
Robin, why do you think he was better than you expected him to be? Well, because some
of the things that he talked about were good ideas. I just, like I said, wonder if they’re going to happen. And I just wish he hadn’t been so negative towards the other side.
And half of you thought it was worse than you expected. Tiffany, why was he worse? Because
he took mostly, 60% of the time to demise. What previous administration and not give details on what his plans are. He talks about his plans all of the time, but no details.
Genesis. Why was he worse? He spent a lot of times sharing a lot of information that was not accurate, but it was what I expected to.
Let me ask you this, did he speak in an appropriate way for President and the national address watched by Americans nationally and people across the globe, that is the question that people are asking right now. Was his style, not just his substance, but was his style appropriate for the presidency? Who says, Yes, raise your hands. Only three, four of you, and who says, No, okay. Rose, more people said no, but you said yes. Explain why.
This time around, he wasn’t all about him. He provided a sense of shared governance, where he didn’t take credit for things and the changes that. Happened within the first 43 days of his President presidency. And he didn’t say as president. He said, our presidency, and I think that’s first and foremost, a great leader, right? And transparency for me is important. And he didn’t say, I did this and I found out all the the spending that happened. He acknowledged an individual who may not be part of the political party, but, you know, was a true supporter during his campaign. And so, you know, I think transparency is important, and I believe that he provided a sense of shared governance during his, you know, congressional address to his Congress who disagrees
with that. Thomas, go ahead.
He had a lot of partisan attacks. He turned around and looked at the speaker and said, you know, you guys better be doing this. You know, this is what I want. I had the complete opposite reaction. He called out Pocahontas at the end. You know, I didn’t think it was unifying at all.
Give me somebody else who’s positive, Frank, you’re up
just kind of to what Rose said. I think he can be a great leader and accomplished a lot, but I think the question is, did he behave appropriately as president, leading in the speech and so on. He has never been a diplomat, and that’s one of his biggest problems. I think a president has to be a diplomat at all times. And Trump is not his thing.
Michelle, any reaction to that,
I think I mean on the other side, I think he’s always sounds like a bully, and, you know, wants to sound intimidating, but he doesn’t.
So, I see your reaction to what Michelle just said.
Well, I disagree with that. I feel like a leader is supposed to be strong. We’ve seen the Democrats, you know, and we didn’t see anything that was unifying from them. So, it is what it is. The most important thing is we pray that he leads the country in the right direction, and then the economy works, and we are happy. That’s all.
Chris,
yeah, I just, I just disagree with the idea that he’s a strong leader. I mean, he had a horrible incident with the leader of Ukraine, our ally, on Friday, where, you know, we basically bullied a invaded nation over, you know, whether they said thank you or not, I just don’t think that’s a sign of a strong leader.
Edward, your reaction.
I walked away from it feeling more positive than negative as to what to expect. I thought that the good outweighed the bear
and what was particularly good for you,
the hopefulness of the economy getting better and inflation going down,
Genesis, what was particularly bad for you?
I thought he was very disrespectful on how he didn’t even look at the Democratic side of the room. He was always just addressing the left side, unless he has something negative to say about who was sitting to his right.
So here’s interesting about all of you. At some point, you all voted for Trump. At some point, at some point you all voted against Trump. At some point, you’re the most sought-after voters in America because you’ve seen both sides, or you participated in both sides. As you look at this and as you consider that speech, what can you articulate about why you’ve been for him, why you’ve been against him, and will you stand right now? Any of you, Frank? Go ahead.

I voted for him the first time because I thought he would be a good change for Washington, train, the swamp and so on. Have a different attitude, other than typical politician. However, I learned during his four years there, but he was what I call inappropriate behavior for a presidential candidate. I didn’t vote for him second time because of that, I knew he’d be back for revenge.
Rose you’ve been on both sides. You go next, and then Chris, you’ll follow her. You
know, the first time around, I was really confident that things were going to change. I wanted a leader that was different than the political facade that many politicians had, and I wanted a familiar face. And I said, Well, I watched the apprentice. Let’s give Donald Trump a chance. And really, that’s not the reason he’s in his position as a billionaire, as a businessman, because he worked hard. Second time around, I didn’t appreciate. The things that he was blurring out in social media. So I kind of just got, you know, sidetracked. It was more personal than you know, his agenda for the political priorities that he had this time around. I know there’s going to be change, and he addressed it, and just kind of going back to what the other participant had shared in terms of not addressing the democratic if you watched or listened to the speech, you would have also recognized that these Democratic Party were dressed in a certain way, were disrespectful in the chambers. So both ways, right? So again, he everyone sees him as a bully things of that nature, but we can’t personally attack the president. We need to look at the political agenda, and I think there’s a vision for our country, and that’s going to be a positive change.

I want to follow up on that right now, right now, who is more disrespectful the President in his speech, or the Democratic members of Congress in the chamber, who thinks the President was more disrespectful? Raise your hands. 122, who thinks the Democrats are more disrespectful? Raise your hands. One, two, almost everybody here. Okay. Selassie, why would the Democrats more disrespectful? In your opinion?
Well, I felt like, you know, this is, we’re in a book democracy. Even if you don’t like somebody, you should be able to applaud. And, you know, clap to certain things. You realize that on several occasions, they never, even, you know, applauded, which is, which was very ridiculous. There were some instances about, you know, the young lady that was murdered, the husband was murdered, and all that kind of cases. And now that was very inspiring. That was something positive. I thought they would have actually applauded. They never did. And our dad was very shambolic on their part,
Edward, why would the Democrats more disrespectful? In your opinion?
I think that there response to things that would affect both Republicans and Democrats unilaterally was not responded to in a very positive fashion. And he pointed that out several times that they won’t even they will not even recognize it yet, but they will in time, how good it will be for them. And still, there was an issue where he was not getting any response from the Democratic Party. Brian,
go ahead, I think Edward is correct, but I want to point out that four years ago, the Republicans did the exact same thing President Biden. This is an exact play. The other way around. They were rude. They were doing cat calling, all kinds of yelling from the from the audience. This is an exact replay with slight little differences. It’s not whether the President was more rude or whether it was, in this particular case, the Democrats, but four years ago, it was the Republicans. It wasn’t either presidential candidate,
Chris, you’re nodding your head, yeah, I agree. I think it’s more a symptom of the current political moment than just one side hates the other. But you know, ultimately, when you deal with Trump, you have to take the high road in some cases, and, for example, them not clapping over the child with brain cancer who was named a law enforcement officer. Those are just simple things that you know you it looks bad, it is bad, and that’s the attention that you’re going to get that that is ultimately what people are going to draw from that, not the things that Trump says, just that you did that, Thomas did the Democrats look bad during the speech.
I don’t think they looked good. But I, like Frank said, every state of the union that I’ve watched, it has been the, you know, depending on it’s the opposite side is booing and cat calling. So I don’t think what I saw last night was any different than, you know, nowadays, some of them had signs, but I don’t think it was any different than what we’ve been seeing. Well,
I think this, I think it’s been worse, right? Like 10 years ago, there was still, like, with some sort of respect between the two parties. And now I think we lost all of that, and then it is true. What like, no matter, they’re just going to say no to Trump, and then it’s, it’s kind of vice versa. No matter what it is. It could be like, you know, saving, like, finding a cure for cancer, and then they’ll boo that just because it came out of Trump’s mouth, or the someone decided you disagree with
Brittany. Your reaction to this?
Yes, I I agree a lot with Frank and Thomas as well. They because Trump has such a negative consultation pretty much behind. Him, it doesn’t matter what he says, or doesn’t matter actually, what he what he does, or what’s improved. I don’t think at this point that it’s going to make a difference as far as on the Democratic side. Now, what I would also say is that he’s created so much division. There’s never been a unified talk from the moment that he started running. So I think that now that just follows him.
Eric from Ohio, your reaction to this?
Yeah, the signs and Al Green’s incident. I mean, that’s just political theater. I think we would see in that last couple years. The problem I really had at the end of the night was like, when that 18 year old that’s worked his butt off got admitted into the military, the 13 year old kid knew to go up and give him a high five and congratulate him, but yet, there was people that wouldn’t stand up and clap, that are our representatives, that just that was a problem to me, Michelle, was that a problem to you?

Um, it is. But to be honest, I watched the whole thing, and I did not notice that they didn’t stand for the children, but I must say that with the signs, I actually thought that was respectful, to be honest, because it was a quiet way to show their displeasure. They weren’t. I mean, at some point they were, you know, yelling or whatever, but I thought the signs were okay personally.
Rose. Did you think the signs were okay? Or were you offended by them?
I wasn’t offended at all. I think, you know, they talked about free speech, but at the end of the day, you know, they work for the Americans, and they have to remember that it’s not about a personal attack on individuals. But, you know, with politics, you never know, but their central focus really should be the political agenda and what they envision for the country, and not the personal attack. I mean, we’ve been taught at a young age, right? If you have problems with somebody, pull them aside and talk to them. You are on national TV; you are representing our voices. You are taking action for us. So, it’s really important that they hold their composure, and we hold them accountable for their actions. So again, I don’t think it’s disrespectful. I think it’s their passion to represent us in what they believe we would do if we were to lobby or protest. So again, that’s their own, you know, individual agenda, but I think there’s a place in time in which you should do that. Right. Go ahead.
Speaking of what Michelle and Rose said about the science, I’m okay with the science, as opposed to Cat calls, but I think any kind of feedback, free speech and everything was fine, but that forum, it’s inappropriate in that forum to do that. It’s it shows a division. Yeah,
Joseph, you’re from New York. New York’s one of the loudest states in America. Was were the Democrats okay in holding up signs? Or Did that bother you? That bothered me?
They first of all, when he walked in, they wouldn’t acknowledge him. They sat down basically for everything that when he was making his speech, they didn’t get up, they didn’t cheer for him. They held the signs Al Green went nuts. It’s just this is Congress, and they’re representing our country, and we don’t look professional. Chris,
was that professional? Was that offensive?
Um, honestly, it was just pretty lame. Like, as a young person, just seeing like, it looks like they were in a bingo game, like, just in the church basement, like it, it just didn’t seem effective. I didn’t think they got their points across. They looked pretty conceited, you know, as someone who has a lot of suspicion and, you know, just like for Trump, I just didn’t think it was an effective way. And I did think, as far as professional I it didn’t bother me. But again, I thought it was Wayne. I
thought it was more professional than Nancy Pelosi ripping up papers right behind Trump on camera. But I don’t think this was the right forum for this. I
think it’s very important to show respect across the board and make sure that you address things in the most appropriate way during the most appropriate time.
Just listen to some of the appalling waste we have already identified. $22 billion from HHS to provide free housing and cars for illegal aliens, $45 million for diversity, equity and inclusion scholarships in Burma, $40 million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants. Nobody knows what that is. I. $8 million to promote LGBTQ i plus in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of,
Chris was Donald Trump effective in showing the waste, fraud and abuse of government,
yes, but I thought it was largely misleading in what way I have read in a lot of different places that these numbers are highly inflated. They don’t represent the actual things he’s cut on top of all the really important things he’s cut that he definitely did not mention in that
speech. Eric was that an effective approach or not.
Yes. Whether it was $1 ten million it doesn’t make sense why we’re giving money to these things.
Rank from Arizona, effective or not?
Was it effective in style? Yes. Are the numbers accurate? I have my doubts,
and one more on that, Edward, was that effective or not?
It was an effective presentation. But there’s a big difference between millions and billions, and it’s the billions and trillions that really make the difference.
Anybody else, did you find that effective and convincing or ineffective and not convincing? Robin, you’re up. It
was effective, but I think it was exaggerated.
Will, yeah, I think it’s the way the delivery is very effective. He’s Hollywood. He show me, and he’s cherry picking the things I’ll get the most that sound the most ridiculous. So it’s effective that way.
Genesis,
informative, but numbers were exaggerated, and
I have created the brand new Department of government efficiency coach. Perhaps you’ve heard of it, perhaps,
which is headed by Elon Musk, who is in the gallery tonight. He’s working very hard. He didn’t need this. He didn’t need this. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Everybody here, even this side, appreciates it. I believe they just don’t want to admit that.
I need your opinion of Elon Musk in a single sentence. Eric from Ohio, think he’s straightforward. He admits mistakes, which is unusual, and I like that about him. Frank from Arizona, well, he has a lot of money and runs a lot of expensive companies, but I’m not sure how that qualifies him to oversee Doge.
Chris from Florida,
I think he’s a highly effective businessman, but I don’t trust him to go into the government and be effective in making substantive cuts.

Rose from California.
I echo the previous speaker. I believe he’s a great businessman, but I also question his political intellect. Joseph
from New York. Why is he there? I think the President is using him as a puppet.
Robin from Nevada, a great businessperson, but I don’t know if he should be doing the things that he’s doing with our government. He’s not allowed will from
New Jersey. Yeah, he’s unelected individual given too much power and appearance,
Michelle from Florida.
I do not trust him, and I think he’s actually using
Brittany from Michigan.
I think that he is a great businessman, but I don’t trust his political motives or his intentions that he has
Genesis from Washington.
I’m sure he’s a great businessman, but I have, I don’t understand his role in politics.
So lastly, from California,
yeah, I think he’s a great businessman, but he has a potential of probably doing something I cannot tell. We’ll have to leave to see
Edward from Georgia.
We don’t actually know the criteria that he is using to do his utilization review, and so what we’re seeing is really smoke and mirrors. We don’t really know how effective it will be, but we do know that he is an effective Christmas man, Robin
from Nevada. Yeah, he’s a great businessperson, but again, he’s not elected, so I don’t know why he. Doing or having so much power in our government.
Thomas from Washington, DC,
I think he’s one of the smartest people in the world. But what makes you successful in the private sector does not mean that you can go in and clean out the government. I think every I really, I think everybody agrees that there’s a lot of waste in the government, but we need all hands on deck.
Tiffany from Texas
Bank is a great business man. However, it reminds me of a kid walking in a room and just snatching stuff off of a table, the way he’s doing with the government.
And the next phase of our plan to deliver the greatest economy in history is for this Congress to pass tax cuts for everybody there, in there, they’re waiting for you to vote. And I’m sure that the people on my right, I don’t mean the Republican right, but my right right here, I’m sure you’re going to vote for those tax cuts, because otherwise, I don’t believe the people will ever vote you into office. So I’m doing a big favor by telling you that, but I know this group is going to be voting for the tax the very, very big part of our plan. We had tremendous success in our first term within a very big part of our plan, we’re seeking permanent income tax cuts all across the board and to get urgently needed relief to Americans hit especially hard by inflation, I’m calling for no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security benefits for our great seniors.
Chris from Florida, the tax cuts that Donald Trump is talking about, is it a good idea or bad idea?
I think it will provide immediate relief for people, but I worry about what it will do when there’s also spending bills that will increase the debt by a lot over the next 10 years.
Rose California tax cuts. Good idea or bad idea?
I think it’s a great idea. I think our Americans deserve to keep every single penny they worked hard for, and I think there’s going to be positivity or optimism in the future.
Genesis, tax cuts, good idea or bad idea.
It is a great idea, but I think it’s just gaslighting, and we just have to wait and see
Eric from Ohio,
Great idea, but as be followed with a balanced budget.
Justin from New York,
I think you’ll see the reduction right away. But come tax time, you’re going to be owing more like five years ago.
Robin from Nevada, tax cuts that Trump’s talking about, good or bad?
Absolutely, it’s fantastic here in Nevada. We do need not to pay taxes on tips and you know, that kind of thing. But I just want to make sure that everybody is considered in this, not just people with a lot of money
velocity from California. Is Trump right or wrong on taxes?
Oh, I think he’s definitely right about that on taxes, because everybody wants tax cut. But the question, the big question is, is it going to be effective? Is it real? Is it believable? Believed to see, and what do you think make a prediction? Oh, well,
I try to be very positive, so I’ll say, yeah, there’s a possibility of being a very, becoming, very helpful. Yeah, well, from
New Jersey, Trump’s tax cut idea, good or bad?
Yeah, I think overall, generally, it’s a good idea. Um, he’s focusing on very, maybe niche, uh, parts of the income, like tips and you mentioned over time, and so I think it should be overall tax cuts for like middle class Americans, not just people earning tips or overtime hourly workers.
Tiffany, I’m Texas, you’re up.
I think tax cuts will be great. However, my concern is, how will the How will be effective down the line? Just have concerns of where would end up fad at the end,
Thomas from the DC area, tax cuts, good or bad.
I would love to have my taxes cut, but I think the devil’s in the details. What is this actual legislation going to look like?
Brittany from Michigan,
Yes, I echo Thomas. I think that tax cuts are a great idea to provide immediate relief. However, I’m not sure what negative implications it will have in the future.
Michelle from Florida, think it’s a great idea. However, I just don’t have faith that it will actually happen.
Anybody else here.
It’d be nice to see if the causal effects of. The results of Doge is what is resulting in the tax cuts
and Frank from Arizona.
Tax cuts treat the symptom of inflation, not the underlying cause. And in addition, cutting taxes reduces the income of the United States and its ability to pay off this debt, existing debt.
Okay, so that means you think they’re a bad idea?
Yes, I would also like to see a majority of the focus on tax cuts go to the middle class instead of, you know, big corporations and wealthy individuals. I think that’s very important right now, when inflation is a pressing
issue. So I want you to give Donald Trump advice as a way to close this focus group. If he were sitting behind the camera and could hear from you, what would you tell him to say one year from now in his next say the Union address anything at all. What advice do you have for him?

I would say, to really just mitigate and stop concentrating on what the previous administration has done. We’ve already known that, so there’s no need for you to just keep beating that over the head and just talk about the present time and what you’re going to do for the future and give clear cut details on how that’s going to be resolved. Not just say what you’re going to do, but give details on how you’re going to do it, when you’re going to do it, which way you’re going to do it. Just give clear cut details.
Will what advice you have for President Trump,
yeah, I think it would be to like, so this is, like, his first address in this first year. So he’s basically, like, prolonging the victory lap and like, and like, really blaming the reviews and things here has changed. But from year from now, we, I think, want to see some results. Like, real results.
Genesis. What advice do you have for President Trump? The next time he speaks before Congress? What communication advice do you have for him?
I will love to for him to share realistic goals and realistic real information as a average American, I would love for him to put him, put himself in our shoes. So make, make a trip to the grocery store and look at the prices and things that we are paying. So you can actually speak on our behalf. I don’t think Donald Trump has been to the grocery store in decades, but that’s just a guess. I do not know for a fact. I agree you have for President Trump, from a communication perspective, my advice to him would be to going into an election, midterm election year to try and be more humble. I don’t know that that’s possible, but that would be my advice, and to appeal directly to the two, I think the two biggest issues, immigration and inflation and slash the economy that are very important to voters. Talk about what he has done and what he’s going to do.
Robin, you’re up. Yes, I would just say, Please Stop exaggerating. Take responsibility. Don’t blame other people and try to bring the country together so that we’re respected by all other countries.

Chris,
yeah, I would say, just stop trying to own the libs. Every time you address Congress, I would say, fall back on the accomplishments you do have. And I would also say, just inspire some confidence with our allies in the world. I’ve seen a lot today about how our allies don’t feel good about where we’re at, and I think that’s really alarming. As you know, nationwide challenge or worldwide challenges are going to become more pressing with China, Russia and our other foreign adversaries.
Eric,
yeah, I would say two major things, if he can find a way to get peace for Russia in Ukraine and get that be still done, plus lower prices, those are two winners that adds on to winning things he’s already got. I think consumer confidence would shoot up, and I think his approval rating would jump even higher. Edward,
I agree with rose about bipartisan support and showing what he can do to unify the parties. But I would also love to see a solution that he’s announced to the wars in both the Middle East and in the Ukraine.
Selassie, yeah, I would probably say,
I would advise you to focus on world peace and also to unite the American people. You know, sit with the Democrats. Not every Democrat is a bad person. There are some good ones out there. They may disagree with him, but sit down, have a unified front and move the country forward.
Michelle. Health,
I would say, to try and, you know, unite with the Democrats. I’m not sure he can do that. But also to not, I think he thinks he’s a funny person, but the jokes are lame, and I think we can do without that. We need to focus on what’s going on in the country. If we want to watch comedy, we can put on Comedy Central.
Tiffany, I would first talk to him about walking with a humble attitude. You are voted as the boss, but it seems that every time you talk, it’s like you’re saying, I’m the boss. I’m gonna do what I want to do. That does not show unification, and it does not show that you’re including everyone. It’s not just about you and the people that you feel voted for you. It’s like having a vindictive attitude. And when you’re a person who are, you are running a country being vindictive, and you’re going to hurt the people who you felt didn’t vote for you. It’s not the right attitude to have if we’re talking about unification. So it is important, like Selassie said, that you try to maybe talk with the Democrats and maybe reason with someone, because everybody’s not bad on both parties.
And Frank, I would say, Mr. President, focus less on yourself and how great you and your people are, and focus less on criticism of others. Instead, be more specific about your plans and what you intend to do, and explain to people how that trickles down to them. How does that trickle down to the factory worker, to the farm worker? What does it mean to them? For example, Doge, going to save some money. Great. What are you going to do with it? You’re going to cut taxes. Great. You know. How is that going to help the individual person deal with the fact that inflation is still there, more specific and less focus on yourself.
I really appreciate this conversation, because you all are exceptional voters, having voted for Trump and voted against him. Did you see both sides this conversation is really important. We’re going to be coming back to you again in the months to come to see whether you end up more positive towards President Trump or more negative. You’ve been on both sides, and that’s what makes you special. So I want to thank you all for doing this on behalf of everyone at straight era news. I’m Dr Frank Luntz here at America speaks, thank you for your time. Thank you for watching, and we’ll be back soon.