State of the Union: Donald Trump didn't understand the women's applause

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Women members of Congress congratulate themselves.

DONALD TRUMP's 5,200 words resulted in the longest State of the Union speech ever in which the women in white stole the limelight.

Asian Americans were mentioned in Donald Trump's State of the Union speech Tuesday (Feb. Trump said that African Americans, Latinos and Asians have the lowest unemployment rates ever.

NBC fact checkers say Trump taking credit for this trend is misleading.

It is true that unemployment rates for black and Latino Americans hit record lows last year, although this economic trend is not new. Unemployment numbers were trending downwards since 2009, when President Obama's  economic policies started to take effect, reversing the trend towards recession started under President Bush.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment percentages for blacks, Hispanics, and Asians have been noticeably decreasing since 2010 and continue to do so, says NBC.

"According to the most recent information from BLS, in January of 2019, the black unemployment rate stood at 6.8 percent. Last May, it dropped to 5.9 percent, the lowest percentage ever recorded. Similarly, the current unemployment rate for Hispanic Americans leaves them at 4.9 percent, up from a record low of 4.4 percent in October and December 2018. In addition, Asian unemployment rates remain low at 3.1 percent in January 2019, up from a low of 2.2 percent in May 2018."

NBC also cites that among women over 20, the unemployment rate in January 2019 was at 3.6 percent. That's up from a low of 3.3 percent in May and September of last year.

Despite these numbers, current and former White House economists have debated the legitimacy of Trump’s claims that his administration, versus the Obama administration, has been the cause of this economic success.

"Austan Goolsbee, the former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors for President Obama called the numbers 'a continuation of a steady trend,'" says NBC.

His mention of higher employment numbers for women drew an unexpected response. The record number of female  members of the House, all of them newly elected Democrats, erupted in self-congratulatory applause resulting in the highlight of the evening.

Many of the women, including the speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, dressed in white in tribute to the women's suffrage movement. Trump obviously wasn't expected the dancing and laughter that broke out among the mainly Democratic members when he talked about record levels of female employment in the US economy. Trump didn't get it. He mistook their exhuberance as agreement for what he was saying.

'No one has benefited more from our thriving economy than women who have filled 58% of the newly created jobs last year,' Trump said before the large group of women stood up and cheered. 'You weren't supposed to do that,' Trump joked before pointing out that the midterms had seen the largest number of women elected to Congress.

The New York Times fact checkers also found:

Trump continued to spread falsehoods about the alleged crime wave caused by immigrants.

He said the "lawless state of our southern border" is a threat to Americans' safety and well being. He said he was asking lawmakers to "defend our very dangerous" border.

Still, studies have found that immigrants (legal and undocumented) commit crimes at a lower rate than native-born Americans.

He failed to mention the thousands of children separated from their families and who remain in detention centers around the country.

“I believe Democrats and Republicans can and should work together on issues like rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and lowering the cost of prescription drugs.  But the President will need to match words with deeds, and we will see if his desire for bipartisanship will align with his actions after tonight," said Rep. Grace Meng, D-NY.

Trump's appeal for unity and togetherness ring hollow considering he is the source of much of the divisiveness and polarization that reigns over the country today.

Editor's Note: This is a developing story. Check back later for further reactions.

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