The powerful lines best remembered from the 2026 State of the Union came more than an hour into the speech. “These people are crazy,” the president proclaimed as he looked over the Democrats. “I’m telling you. “They’re crazy.” Donald Trump had just told the story of a 14-year-old Virginia girl taken from her parents when they refused to call her a boy. He said America can no longer allow such tyranny. Republicans clapped. Democrats sat on their hands. The president had more overtly relied on this tactic earlier in the speech. He asked the audience to clap if they agreed with the assertion that the first duty of the American government involves protecting citizens and not illegal aliens. Democrats sat stoically. Trump allowed their silence to linger, looked their way, and spoke clearly through facial and hand gestures. Then, Democrats, realizing themselves caught in a trap, reacted. Rashid Tlaib and, especially, Ilhan Omar, heckled loudly and angrily. “We can never forget that many in this room allowed the border invasion,” the president explained, adding that “they would do it again.” Trump noted that only Republicans stood in the way of that happening. When he noted his role as a peacemaker ending wars, Democrats laughed. “Sick people,” Trump responded. The president, below the political Mendoza line with approval ratings hovering in the low 40s, served himself well on Tuesday night. He pointed out concrete successes in dramatically lowering crime rates, securing the border, reducing the availability of fentanyl and other dangerous drugs, and curbing inflation on eggs, gas, and so much else. He highlighted such surreal occurrences as tens of billions of barrels of oil coming to the United States from Venezuela, Washington, D.C., shifting from a very dangerous city to a relatively safe one, and the U.S. defeating Canada for the gold medal in hockey, which, almost alone, received overwhelming bipartisan applause when the Olympic men’s team entered the upper level of the chamber. (RELATED: From Overtime Glory to Oval Divide: When Team USA Splits at the State of the Union) More significantly, he stripped naked the out-of-touch positions of Democrats on immigration, transgenderism, and voter identification requirements. This last blow against his political opponents appeared more self-inflicted than struck by the president. READ MORE from Daniel J. Flynn: U-S-A! U-S-A! Americans Dramatically Win Hockey Gold The Beauty of Anti-Fascists Recognizing Fascists in the Mirror Noam Chomsky, Apologist for Pol Pot, Called Jeffrey Epstein His ‘Best Friend’