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  • 2018-01-31 (xsd:date)
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  • Did Democrats Check Their Phones During Trump's State of the Union Address? (en)
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  • An image purportedly showing Democratic lawmakers checking their phones during President Donald Trump's State of the Union address was posted by Breitbart's White House correspondent Charlie Spiering on 30 January 2018 along with the claim that the image occurred during a portion of the speech about caring for veterans. This tweet was then turned into a meme and subsequently posted to Facebook pages such as USA Patriots for Donald Trump: The claim that it occurred during a portion of the speech about caring for veterans is also mostly true. One could quibble with this assertion and argue that this image was actually broadcast after President Trump mentioned a variety of groups and topics (including Americans, senators, Supreme Court Justices, the 2nd Amendment, and veterans) and just before he mentioned a piece of legislation aimed at caring for veterans. Here's a transcript of this portion of the speech. The bolded screenshot signifies when the image appeared on screen: It's also true that the pictured lawmakers were Democrats. ABC News labeled this section of the audience as Democratic Members of Congress in the caption of a photograph, and we believe we have identified the two women at the center of the photograph as Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-California) and Rep. Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam). Here is video of the moment: A spokesperson for Lofgren told us via e-mail that the California representative was sharing a news article with her colleague and that the controversy over her use of a phone during the State of the Union equated to faux outrage: We also found a handful of other people using phones during President Trump's speech. Democrats certainly weren't as enthused as their Republican counterparts during Trump's first State of the Union, but the disrespectful act of using a cellphone appears to have occurred on both sides of the aisle. We have not been able to identify the politicians using their phones in the following image, but this section of the crowd was labeled Republican by the Washington Post. Well-known Republicans such as Peter King can also be seen in close proximity to the two men on their phones: Similarly, some Democratic lawmakers were spotted on their phones during another portion of the speech: We also examined video of President Barack Obama's final State of the Union address. Again, we found several examples of politicians using their phones (and even a tablet) during the speech. In other words, the use of a phone during the State of the Union address is not unprecedented or uncommon. And while some may argue that this is a sign of disrespect, it is not a habit inherent to any specific political party. (en)
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