--- title: Stacey Abrams' State of the Union Response: Full Transcript description: Stacey Abrams delivered the Democrats' rebuttal to President Trump's State of the Union address. Read the full transcript. canonical: https://time.com/5521939/state-of-the-union-democratic-response-transcript/ author: Tara Law article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-02-06T05:00:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:21:53.149Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read Stacey Abrams' Rebuttal to Trump's State of the Union og:description: Stacey Abrams delivered the Democrats' rebuttal to President Trump's State of the Union address. Read the full transcript. og:url: https://time.com/5521939/state-of-the-union-democratic-response-transcript/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf73fa4532d9282a/698944a2457a52deedd6071e/ap19037148726204.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: State of Union Democratic Response og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read Stacey Abrams' Rebuttal to Trump's State of the Union twitter:description: Stacey Abrams delivered the Democrats' rebuttal to President Trump's State of the Union address. Read the full transcript. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf73fa4532d9282a/698944a2457a52deedd6071e/ap19037148726204.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read the Full Transcript of Stacey Abrams' Rebuttal to President Trump's State of the Union > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=a4664aac-f992-400f-9e9e-093349687807&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Stacey Abrams Delivers Rebuttal to President Trump's State of the Union [Watch (HLS stream): Stacey Abrams Delivers Rebuttal to President Trump's State of the Union](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/y7QYOoQY.m3u8) (2:44)  _Published 2019-02-06. Stacey Abrams Delivers Rebuttal to President Trump's State of the Union_  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Feb 6, 2019 5:00 AM UTC Stacey Abrams Delivers Rebuttal to President Trump's State of the Union  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Feb 6, 2019 5:00 AM UTC Stacey Abrams gave the Democrats’ response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday night, becoming the first African American woman to deliver the speech. In her address, Abrams called the partial government shutdown “a stunt engineered by the President of the United States, one that defied every tenet of fairness and abandoned not just our people – but our values.” Abrams, who was featured [on the cover of TIME](http://time.com/5349541/stacey-abrams-georgia/) in July, shot to prominence this fall when she narrowly lost the gubernatorial race in Georgia, a state that has not elected a Democrat as governor in 20 years. Abrams gained national recognition for her talents as a public speaker, as a symbol of the Democrats’ push to elect more women and minority candidates in 2018, and for the [allegations of minority voter suppression](http://time.com/5445560/georgia-governor-race-brian-kemp-hacking/) during the close-run race. While the State of the Union rebuttal is [sometimes called a “curse”](http://time.com/5510943/state-of-the-union-rebuttal-history/) because the careers of some up-and-coming politicians have fizzled after delivering it, the speech is also a major opportunity for a rising politician to address a massive national audience. Here is the full transcript of her Tuesday night speech. --- > “” --- ## Transcript We know by partisanship could craft a 21st century immigration plan. But this administration chooses to cage children and tear families apart. Compassionate treatment at the border is not the same as open borders. President Reagan understood this. President Obama understood this. Americans understand this and democrats stand ready to effectively secure our ports and borders but we must all embrace that from agriculture to healthcare to entrepreneurship, America is made stronger by the presence of immigrants. In Georgia and around the country People are striving for middle class, where salary truly equals economic security. But, instead, families hopes are being crushed by republican leadership that ignores real life or just doesn't understand it. Under the current administration, far too many hard working Americans are falling behind. Living paycheck to paycheck, most without labor unions to protect them from even worse harm. The Republican tax bill rigged the system against working people. Rather than bringing back jobs, plants are closing, layoffs are looming. Just a few weeks ago, I joined volunteers to distribute meals. To followed federal workers. They waited on line for a box of food and a silver of hope since they hadn't received pay cheques, making livelihood of our federal workers upon for political games is a disgrace. The shutdown was stunt engineered by the president of United State Wanted that to fight every tenet of fairness and abandon not just our people, but our values. So even as I'm very disappointed by the president's approach to our problems, I still don't want him to fail. But we need them to tell the truth and to respect his duties. And respect the extraordinary diversity that defines America. Our progress has always been found in the refuge, in the basic instinct of the America experiment to do right by our people. And with a renewed commitment to social and economic justice, we will create a stronger America. Together. Beaune a miracle is when by fighting for our shared values against all enemies. Foreign and domestic. That is who we are. And when we do so, never wavering, the state of our union will always be strong. Thank you and may God bless the United States of America. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5521939/state-of-the-union-democratic-response-transcript/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5521939/state-of-the-union-democratic-response-transcript/"},"headline":"Read the Full Transcript of Stacey Abrams' Rebuttal to President Trump's State of the Union","datePublished":"2019-02-06T05:00:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-13T08:21:53.149Z","description":"Stacey Abrams delivered the Democrats' rebuttal to President Trump's State of the Union address. 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