美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump Gives State Of The Union Amid Impeachment, Like Clinton（在线收听）

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

President Trump gives his State of the Union speech tonight in the midst of his impeachment trial. And this actually has echoes of Bill Clinton's impeachment 21 years ago. So what might we hear from President Trump tonight? Here's NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith.

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: For President Clinton in 1999, the State of the Union came right in the middle of his impeachment trial on the very day his legal team began presenting his defense to senators. Charles Ruff was White House counsel.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CHARLES RUFF: He did not commit perjury. He did not obstruct justice. He must not be removed from office.

KEITH: When Clinton entered the House chamber that night, members of Congress stood and applauded. The Republican speaker of the House who had voted to impeach him offered a warm greeting.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DENNIS HASTERT: Members of Congress, I have the high privilege and the distinct honor of presenting to you the president of the United States.

(CHEERING)

KEITH: Jeff Shesol was a White House speechwriter then and is now a partner at West Wing Writers.

JEFF SHESOL: This did not feel - as he stood up there and was applauded, this did not feel like a president whose presidency actually hung in the balance.

KEITH: And in reality, much as today, there wasn't a lot of suspense about whether Clinton would ultimately be removed from office. He was riding high with near record job approval.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

BILL CLINTON: America is working again. The promise of our future is limitless.

KEITH: In his more than hourlong speech, Clinton never once mentioned impeachment, and his speechwriters say there was never a question about that. They stuck to bipartisan and optimistic themes. Throughout his impeachment, Clinton had tried to maintain an air of floating above it all. And Shesol says the 1999 State of the Union was part of that.

SHESOL: I think it increased our commitment to bipartisan themes that you probably would have seen in any event.

KEITH: Like Clinton, when President Trump stands before Congress tonight, he will be a president impeached but not yet acquitted. The Senate vote on the two articles of impeachment is set for Wednesday, and the outcome is all but certain. But it won't have happened yet. He won't be able to get up and tout his acquittal. In an interview on Fox News this weekend, Sean Hannity asked Trump about rescheduling.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SEAN HANNITY: Any thought to delay the State of the Union?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No. I'm going to have it. It's going to be done. We're going to talk about the achievements that we've made.

KEITH: To that end, a senior official who briefed reporters on the speech said the theme will be the great American comeback. It will be an optimistic speech, the official said. But he also hinted that Trump would draw contrast with Democrats, including possible election opponents in the chamber. He wouldn't say whether Trump would mention impeachment, but last year, with the Russia investigation under way, Trump issued a warning.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TRUMP: If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation. It just doesn't work that way.

KEITH: In the end, there were investigations, yet there were also a handful of bipartisan legislative accomplishments. Tonight, Trump will deliver his speech just feet from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, looking out on a chamber full of senators who will serve as jurors. The House impeachment managers who've spent hours arguing passionately for his conviction will be there, too. There could be awkwardness, just as there was in 1999. Michael Waldman was director of speech writing for Clinton.

MICHAEL WALDMAN: They had to adjourn the trial and trudge over to the House chamber and sit there while Bill Clinton got up to the rostrum and gave an ebullient, confident, even visionary State of the Union speech on national television. I think it was a truly miserable experience for a lot of them.

KEITH: And if President Trump delivers the speech his White House has previewed, a similar dynamic could prevail as Democrats who sought to remove him from office and others running to replace him sit and listen as he delivers the themes of his reelection campaign to a national television audience. Tamara Keith, NPR News.