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Fox News
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
The Hitchhiker's Guide to President Trump's speech to Congress tonight
Tonight's speech is technically not a "State of the Union." They usually eschew that title this time around, since the president has only been in office a few weeks. Interestingly, nothing in the Constitution requires a speech. Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution says the "President Shall from time to time give Congress information on the State of the Union." President George Washington gave the first such address in New York, but President Thomas Jefferson discontinued the practice. He viewed it as too much like a speech from the crown. TUNE IN: LIVE COVERAGE OF TRUMP'S ADDRESS TO CONGRESS TONIGHT ON FOX NEWS The "State of the Union" was a written document until the early 20th century. That's when President Woodrow Wilson revived the speech custom after 112 years of dormancy. President Calvin Coolidge was the first to deliver a State of the Union speech over the radio in 1923. However, the tradition of radio really found its footing in the 1930s. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt mastered radio with his "Fireside Chats" during the Great Depression and World War II. That continued during his State of the Union messages. President Harry Truman was the first to have the speech broadcast on television in 1947. President Lyndon Baines Johnson moved the speech to prime time in 1965. President Bill Clinton had his speeches streamed on the internet in the mid-1990s. Sometimes the speech itself isn't what's remembered – it's the extracurriculars. In January 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge shortly after takeoff. Congressional Budget Office employee Lenny Skutnik famously dove into the freezing water to rescue a passenger. Two weeks later, President Ronald Reagan recognized Skutnik by inviting him to the State of the Union as a guest. Presidents - and lawmakers - have continued this practice. President Barack Obama spoke to a Joint Session of Congress in September 2009 about Obamacare. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-SC, infamously heckled the president, shouting "You lie!" Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, ripped up President Donald Trump's speech after she presided over his State of the Union speech in February 2020. Police arrested Steve Nikoui after he repeatedly disrupted President Joe Biden's State of the Union address last year. Nikoui was upset after his son Kareem was killed in Afghanistan. Prosecutors later dropped the charges.
Fox News
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Top wildest moments from presidential addresses to entire Congress, from Reagan to Biden
As President Trump prepares to deliver his first address to joint sessions of Congress since taking office in January, here are several of the wildest moments from joint addresses from presidents in the past. Dem. Sen. Joe Manchin bucks party to stand and clap for Trump in 2018 West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat who later became an independent, went viral on social media after he stood when President Trump entered the chamber, and stood and applauded some of Trump's policy proposals when other Democrats remained sitting. "That's the way I was raised in West Virginia. We have respect," Manchin said about his actions at Trump's first State of the Union address. "There is some civility still yet. There should be civility in this place." President Biden blasts GOP lawmakers in 2023 address, prompting jeers from Republicans in the crowd "Some of my Republican friends want to take the economy hostage — I get it — unless I agree to their economic plans," Biden said to Congress, prompting a shake of the head from then-GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the background and shouts from the crowd and shots of other Republicans shaking their heads. "Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans, some Republicans, want Medicare and Social Security to sunset," Biden continued, which caused an even more pronounced shake of the head from McCarthy, who mouthed "no" as Republicans continued to jeer. "I'm not saying it's the majority," Biden continued, which resulted in even more boos from the raucous crowd. "Let me give you — anybody who doubts it, contact my office. I'll give you a copy — I'll give you a copy of the proposal," Biden continued to say over increasingly louder shouting from the crowd, which included GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, stood up and gestured her frustration. " That means Congress doesn't vote — I'm glad to see — no, I tell you, I enjoy conversion." Biden's speech continued to devolve from there as Republican outrage interrupted him on multiple occasions. Reagan surprises the crowd with first-ever acknowledgment of a guest in the audience Guests in the audience acknowledged in presidential speeches to joint sessions of Congress have become commonplace in recent years, but President Ronald Reagan's 1982 address was the first time the practice was rolled out. Reagan's speech came just weeks after Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into Washington's 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River shortly after taking off in an accident that killed 78 people. Three people survived the crash thanks to civilians on the ground who rushed to their aid, including Congressional Budget Office assistant Lenny Skutnik, who stripped off his shoes and clothes and dove into the frigid waters. Reagan honored Skutnik in his speech, which made honoring people in the crowd a more common theme in the years to come. "Just 2 weeks ago, in the midst of a terrible tragedy on the Potomac, we saw again the spirit of American heroism at its finest — the heroism of dedicated rescue workers saving crash victims from icy waters," Reagan said. "And we saw the heroism of one of our young government employees, Lenny Skutnik, who, when he saw a woman lose her grip on the helicopter line, dived into the water and dragged her to safety." Rep. Boebert heckles Biden over Afghanistan withdrawal during 2022 address "You put them in, 13 of them," GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert shouted at Biden as he talked about Afghanistan veterans who ended up in caskets due to exposure to toxic burn pits. Boebert was referencing the 13 U.S. service members killed during Biden's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Boebert was wearing an outfit that said "Drill Baby Drill" in opposition to Biden's energy policies and her outburst drew some boos from the audience. At another point, Boebert and Greene started chanting "build the wall" when Biden was talking about immigration. Rep. Joe Wilson yells 'You lie!' at President Obama One of the most remembered outbursts from a State of the Union address came in 2009 when South Carolina GOP Congressman Joe Wilson interrupted President Obama's address, which at the time was far less common than it later became. "There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants," Obama said, talking about his controversial Obamacare plan. "This, too, is false. The reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally." "You lie!" Wilson shouted from his seat on the Republican side of the chamber, causing widespread yelling from other members in the audience. Wilson later apologized to Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. "This evening I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the president's remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill," Wilson said in a written statement. "While I disagree with the president's statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the president for this lack of civility." Speaker Pelosi tears up Trump's 2020 speech Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sparked a social media firestorm and cemented herself in State of the Union infamy in February 2020 when she stood up and tore Trump's speech into pieces after he had finished. When Fox News asked Pelosi afterward why she did it, she responded, "Because it was the courteous thing to do considering the alternatives." She added, "I tore it up. I was trying to find one page with truth on it. I couldn't." Pelosi's outburst came on the heels of Trump's first impeachment trial, which ended in a Senate acquittal the day after the speech. "Speaker Pelosi just ripped up: One of our last surviving Tuskegee Airmen. The survival of a child born at 21 weeks. The mourning families of Rocky Jones and Kayla Mueller. A service member's reunion with his family. That's her legacy," the White House tweeted after Pelosi tore up the speech, referencing individuals who Trump mentioned during his address.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
First responders coping with emotions after deadly midair collision near Reagan National Airport
ARLINGTON, Va. () — First responders, both past and present, are coping with heavy emotions from the grueling recovery efforts after the deadly midair collision near Reagan National Airport (DCA) late last month. Nearing three weeks since an American Airlines flight collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River, those incredibly difficult recovery efforts to bring the bodies of all 67 victims to shore have come to an end, but the healing process is only just beginning. 'There's physical scars and, there's emotional scars that people have as a result of this tragedy,' said David Hoagland, president of the D.C. Firefighters Association. DC-area figure skaters unite after deadly collision near Reagan National Airport For him, and hundreds of other first responders who showed up to help in the hours that followed the crash it was unlike any call they'd ever responded to. 'This was obviously a very catastrophic event. Our members worked for a very long time on the scene under extremely hazardous conditions. There was jet fuel throughout the water. There was debris from the airplane. Everybody drove for several hours in icy conditions,' Hoagland DC Fire and EMS Department Foundation said it'll be there to help first responders heal and provide ongoing mental health support. 'The struggles that they have after an event like this can happen today, they can happen six months from now, they can happen six years from now,' said Amy Mauro, the foundation's executive director. Some former first responders said those images and those feelings don't ever really go away. Don Usher was the pilot of U.S. Park Police helicopter Eagle 1 rescuing people from the Potomac River after Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge back on a snowy, icy day in 1982. He recalls the entire rescue operation that day in great detail. 'These aircraft accidents are always just a series of little events that, but for one thing, might have changed the entire outcome,' Usher said. 'Safety must not be compromised': DC-area lawmakers express concern over DOGE interfering with FAA For him, the recent headlines have reopened old wounds, remembering both the remarkable rescues and the lives lost 43 years ago. 'For me, it was just shock and then absolute sorrow, because here we were, going through another process in the Potomac River, the loss of innocent life in an airplane crash that probably didn't have to happen, just like Air Florida didn't really have to happen,' he said. The DC Fire and EMS Foundation is always accepting donations, and proceeds from the upcoming Legacy on Ice figure skating event at Capital One Arena will benefit first responders impacted by the crash. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Hero who saved survivors of 1982 Air Florida crash had been a Boca Raton bank president
There they floated. Scared. Traumatized. Six people had just survived the crash of Air Florida Flight 90 into a bridge over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., in January 1982. They hung on to the jet's damaged tail section in the freezing water. Five of them would live because the sixth, one-by-one, would hand them a life ring attached to a rope hanging from a helicopter. When the copter came back a sixth time, the man had slipped into the water to his death. This hero, under normal circumstances, was terrified of the water and couldn't swim. Authorities believed it was Arland Williams Jr., 46, a former Boca Raton bank president, who'd flown into Washington to consult with a superior at the Federal Reserve. Williams at that time was a bank examiner working for the Fed in Atlanta. DC plane clash: How Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the Potomac in 1982 The Boeing 737 on Jan. 13, 1982 couldn't climb high enough during takeoff from what was then Washington National Airport because of icing on the wings amid a blizzard. On a January day 43 years later, another jet would collide with an Army helicopter on its descent to Reagan Washington National, killing all 67 people on the two aircraft. It, too, would send people into the icy Potomac. Officials were never able to say definitively that Williams was the hero who saved the five lone survivors of the crash, but evidence suggests he was. He was the only person of the 78 people who perished — 74 on the plane and four commuters on the 14th Street Bridge — to die from drowning and exposure to the cold. The description from a helicopter paramedic, who said he came as close as a foot from the man, fit Williams. The five survivors were: Kelly Duncan, 22, a flight attendant based in Miami. She didn't remember seeing the man handing over the life ring. She was so cold her temperature didn't register on thermometer when she reached the shore, a relative said. Priscilla Tirado, 23, a Spanish woman who had lost her husband, Jose, and her 2-month-old son, Jason, in the crash. They had been on their way to Fort Lauderdale before heading back to Spain. Joseph Stiley, 42, of Alexandria, Virginia, a pilot for General Telephone & Electronics heading to Tampa for business. Patricia Felch, 27, of Herndon, Virginia, Stiley's secretary. Bert Hamilton, 43, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, flying to Tampa on business for Fairchild Industries. The flight's final destination was Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport with a stopover in Tampa. Williams had been on his way to Tampa to celebrate the birthday of his fiancée's son. Carole Biggs launched a campaign to get official recognition for Williams' heroism. But Park Service officials were concerned about asking their employees to take a risk of getting the identification wrong. Williams' 16-year-old son, Arland "Trey" Williams III, had been watching the news reports of the crash with his 17-year-old sister, Leslie Ann, and his mother, Williams' ex-wife, not knowing his father was onboard. "If he did die that way, I'm very proud he did," the teen said the next day. Williams had been the president of First Community Bank of Boca Raton six years earlier, then had taken the job at the Fed. He'd moved to Palm Beach County in 1972 to work for First National Bank & Trust Co. in Lake Worth and was transferred to be president of the Boca Raton bank from 1973 to 1975. His friend, William McDonald, had convinced Williams to come to South Florida after they'd roomed together as assistant bank examiners in Indianapolis. "I thought about Arland when I found out he was on the plane — and when I heard there was a hero and they described him, I just knew it was Arland," William McDonald of Jupiter, who'd known Williams for years, said in 1982. "The best news in the wake of all this is that the hero could be Arland — that makes me feel good." Holly Baltz, who has a passion for history, is a content editor at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hbaltz@ This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: 1982 Air Florida crash hero who saved 5 had been Boca Raton banker
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawrence O'Donnell Spots 'Profoundly Ignorant' Way Trump Made History After D.C. Plane Crash
MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell on Thursday knocked President Donald Trump's 'completely indiscriminate' act of throwing around accusations at a press briefing tied to the deadly plane crash in Washington, D.C. 'It is the first time in history that a president in the United States has assigned blame for an aviation accident on his own, immediately, based entirely on his own profoundly, ignorant, prejudiced guess,' said O'Donnell of Trump, who blamed diversity, equity and inclusion efforts for the midair collision. O'Donnell stacked Trump's move up against Democrats who didn't blame Ronald Reagan for Air Florida Flight 90 crashing into a D.C. bridge and falling into an icy Potomac River below in 1982. The crash left 78 people dead. The crash occurred just months after the then-president made what the MSNBC host called 'the single stupidest, tough guy move' on domestic policy in the '80s when he fired thousands of air traffic controllers amid a labor dispute. O'Donnell then went after Trump for thinking he knew the 'answers' to Wednesday's crash despite an investigation just getting underway. 'Every previous president in reacting to such events, such tragedies, has always begun with sympathy including the only president who could have been blamed for an accidental plane crash and wasn't,' he declared before playing a 1982 clip of Reagan remarking on Lenny Skutnik, a bystander to the Air Florida crash. Skutnik, a Congressional Budget Office employee at the time of the crash, dived into the Potomac River and pulled Priscilla Tirado out of the Potomac River. Reagan would later invite Skutnik to his State of the Union address less than two weeks later. 'Lenny Skutnik was the worst thing you can be in Donald Trump's Washington,' said O'Donnell of the federal worker who became 'an American hero' and served the government for decades before his retirement in 2010. O'Donnell turned to a 1982 article published seven months after the crash in The New York Times where Skutnik was asked if he'd do the rescue again. 'I separate it into two parts,' Skutnik told the Times. 'The rescue, I'd do again in a minute. But all the stuff that came after, the fame and all that, I could do without. If it ever happened again, I wish the cameras weren't there. The whole thing has been kind of blown out of proportion.' O'Donnell weighed in on Skutnik's quote, 'There's nothing about Lenny Skutnik — not his humility, not his heroism, nothing about him that Donald Trump could ever understand.' Marco Rubio Reveals Just How Serious Trump Is About Buying Greenland Ex-Prosecutor Thinks Trump Is Accidentally Creating The Very Thing He Fears 'Irony Is Dead': Lara Trump Slammed After Clueless Complaint About 'Competence'
