--- 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: 2026-02-23T22:41:26.039Z 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 is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=06ff31d6-6f7c-40a3-9e05-235682124a81&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Subscribers | 85,000 | TIME, August 2026 | | Open rate | 37.0% | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### 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.  by [Tara Law](https://time.com/author/tara-law/)  ## Tara Law Feb 6, 2019 5:00 AM UTC  In this pool image from video, Stacey Abrams delivers the Democratic party's response to President Donald Trump's State of the Union address, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019 from Atlanta. In this pool image from video, Stacey Abrams delivers the Democratic party's response to President Donald Trump's State of the Union address, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019 from Atlanta. AP—AP  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. --- > “” --- ```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":"2026-02-23T22:41:26.039Z","description":"Stacey Abrams delivered the Democrats' rebuttal to President Trump's State of the Union address. 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