SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- President Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union address Tuesday night. A speech which was said to be about unification in the country.
RELATED: Trump deliversfirstState of the Union speech
Rep. Joe Kennedy (D - Mass) delivered the Democratic response Tuesday night, in a speech that showed criticism of the President's words.
"It would be easy to dismiss the past year as chaos. Partisanship. Politics. But it's far bigger than that," he said. "This administration isn't just targeting the laws that protect us -- they are targeting the very idea that we are all worthy of protection."
RELATED: Democrats' response: "We all feel the fault lines of a fractured country"
San Diego lawmakers echoed the sentiment before and after the address.
Rep. Scott Peter, (D-CA)
Less than one week before the State of the Union, San Diego Rep. Peters announced that San Diego Dreamer Karen Bahena would be his guest.
Bahena lived in Mexico for eight years before her family immigrated to the United States in 2001. Thanks to DACA, she was able to graduate college with a degree in Public Health and Nutrition at San Diego State University, find work as a research coordinator at the University of California, San Diego, and pursue her dreams in the field of medicine. She hopes to one day help underprivileged communities with health care needs.
In a press release, the congressman wrote:
“Outstanding contributors to society like Karen should not be forced out of our country, instead, they should be embraced and celebrated for making the United States a better place. A clear path forward for Dreamers must be Congress’ top priority before it is too late. I am honored to have Karen join me at the State of the Union as my guest.”
After the President's SOTU, Rep.Peters took to Twitter, making it clear what he thought of the speech.
If this was the unity speech, I’m glad he didn’t use the disunity draft. src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SOTU
— Rep. Scott Peters (@RepScottPeters) January 31, 2018
Rep. Susan Davis (D - CA)
Hours before the President's address, Rep. Davis posted to both Twitter and Facebook - wearing black to show solidarity with the Me Too movement.
After the speech, she released this statement to her website:
"I asked my constituents in a survey what they wanted to hear in the President’s speech and health care was a top priority for them. There was little mention of health care tonight. Nothing about lowering premiums. Nothing about expanding coverage.
Another disappointment was his infrastructure plan – or lack thereof. For more than a year, he has been touting his infrastructure plan with almost no details. I’m afraid it was more of the same tonight.
San Diego is facing an infrastructure gap and remains in desperate need of improvements to our roads and schools.
Democrats in Congress are willing to work with him on the issue of infrastructure, but we simply are not seeing the leadership needed. The key to making State of the Union proposals a reality is leadership. That trait remains to be seen with this President.”
Rep. Juan Vargas, (D-CA)
Ahead of the address, San Diego Congressman Juan Vargas announced that he would boycott to show solidarity with, "all the people (Donald Trump) has and continues to disrespect."
At this time the congressman has not released a response to the State of the Union.
