A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
President Trump gave his assessment of the state of the union Tuesday night.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Our nation is back - bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before.
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MARTÍNEZ: The rebuttal came from Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger. Here's NPR's Barbara Sprunt.
BARBARA SPRUNT, BYLINE: Just five weeks ago, Abigail Spanberger became the first woman to be sworn in as governor of Virginia, flipping control of the office from Republican to Democrat. And last night, she addressed the nation, pushing back on President Trump's assertion that the U.S. is in a golden age.
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ABIGAIL SPANBERGER: The president did what he always does - he lied, he scapegoated and he distracted. And he offered no real solutions to our nation's pressing challenges, so many of which he is actively making worse.
SPRUNT: Spanberger structured her speech around three questions.
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SPANBERGER: Is the president working to make life more affordable for you and your family? Is the president working to keep Americans safe both at home and abroad? Is the president working for you?
SPRUNT: She said the answer to all three - no. Affordability, one of the key pillars of her speech, is something Democrats see as a winning message as they look ahead to the midterm elections.
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SPANBERGER: Costs are too high in housing, health care, energy and child care.
SPRUNT: She slammed what she called Trump's reckless trade policies and spoke about the violence from federal immigration enforcement officers on American streets.
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SPANBERGER: Our president told us tonight that we are safer because these agents arrest mothers and detain children. Think about that. Our broken immigration system is something to be fixed, not an excuse for unaccountable agents to terrorize our communities.
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SPRUNT: The rebuttal to a State of the Union is considered an honor given to a rising star, but it can be a tough gig.
JOEL PAYNE: It's very hard to match the pomp and circumstance and the bully pulpit of the president.
SPRUNT: That's Joel Payne, a longtime Democratic strategist. He says who gets chosen to give the speech sends an important message.
PAYNE: Democrats, they want people to think about folks like Abigail Spanberger as core to the Democratic message and core to the Democratic coalition. Someone who comes from a state that's purple - not too far to the left, not too far to the right.
SPRUNT: In 2018, Spanberger was part of a blue wave of Democrats who flipped control of the House. Party leaders are now looking to her to help them achieve that feat again this November, starting tonight, where she'll headline House Democrats' retreat to share lessons learned from her campaign.
Barbara Sprunt, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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