In his analysis of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, CNN anchor John King said it was disgraceful the president didn't talk about climate change.
King, who hosts CNN’s "Inside Politics" daytime show, was on the panel reacting late Tuesday to Trump’s speech, and he praised Stacey Abrams's response address. Abrams short speech emphasized issues important to the Democrats’ base, such as gun control and climate change, and in a clip flagged by NewsBusters, King blasted Trump for not mentioning those same issues.
"Every leader, whatever your party, should be talking about climate change," King said, opining that "all Americans" should want that from the president. "We can have a debate about what to do about it, but that the president of the United States, at this moment in the world, did not mention climate change in even a sentence is just frankly a disgrace—any president, Democrat or Republican."
King lavished praise on Abrams, whose 2018 run for governor in Georgia drew media accolades but did not lead to victory at the polls, for her speech. Abrams has alleged the election was stolen.
"That's a very difficult job," King said, referring to those from the party opposite of the president who give the response to the State of the Union address. "That's the best response, Democrat or Republican, I can remember in some years. It's a very difficult job. It's a thankless job."
King went on to argue Trump on a collision course with another government shutdown because Washington "can only do one thing at a time."
"This town, sadly, has proven in the last 20 years it can only do one thing at a time. Sometimes it can't even do one thing at a time," King said. "So the president has to make a choice: If we stay in this immigration debate, that's all we are going to do. We'll have another potential government shutdown in two weeks or he'll assign something to keep the government open but then declare the national emergency, and it will end up in court. And any goodwill that was built tonight, any potential opening that was built tonight will be gone."
King spoke about the early days of the Obama administration and how polarized Washington became. Gridlock followed and little legislation was passed, and King said the same fate may befall Washington again if Pelosi and Trump cannot find common ground.
"So will the president cut a deal, accept a compromise?" King asked. "He would have to get Speaker Pelosi to put something on the table to get it, and then say ‘Let's do infrastructure or let's do prescription drugs, let's do something where we can actually work together,’ or are we going to stay in this wall-or-nothing conversation for another two weeks, three weeks, four weeks? Because if we do, forget any of this other stuff getting done."
Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who ran alongside Trump for the Republican nomination in 2016, then stepped in to assure King that Pelosi and Democrats would offer Trump a good compromise.