Indiana Republican Lawmakers React To President's State Of The Union Address

Read and watch reaction from senators Todd Young and Mike Braun, as well as southeastern Indiana Congressman Greg Pence.

Indiana U.S. Senators Todd Young (left) and Mike Braun.

(Washington) - Both of Indiana's U.S. Senators say they like what they heard in the State of the Union. 

Delivering his address Monday, President Donald Trump focused on the creation of 5.3 million new jobs, including 600,000 new manufacturing jobs.  He claims wages are rising as the fastest pace in decades.  

Trump claims five million Americans have been lifted off food stamps and the overall economy is growing at twice the rate today as it was before he took office. 

Republican senators Mike Braun and Todd Young say the president was spot-on when he highlighted the economy and the nation's successes. 

Tonight, President @realDonaldTrump spoke of great progress: an economy that keeps roaring, Americans going back to work at record pace, a safer nation at home & abroad. I was honored to hear his vision to keep the state of our union stronger than ever by #ChoosingGreatness #SOTU

— Senator Mike Braun (@SenatorBraun) February 6, 2019

Braun, who took office last month, said the country is more successful and safer because of the president. 

Young welcomed Trump’s call for Americans to rally as a country around a number of major issues facing the nation.

“Immigration reform, national security, infrastructure investment, protecting American workers – all of these things need to be priorities moving forward, and I hope we can come together for the common good to make them happen,” Young said in a statement following the address.

 “I was also glad the President reflected on the many accomplishments that a Republican President working with a Republican Congress has been able to achieve over the last couple of years. From tax reform – which has created 45,000 jobs just in the state of Indiana since passage – to regulatory relief, to many wins on the national security front, to the confirmation of 85 federal judges and counting.

Indiana 6th District Congressman Greg Pence, a first-term Republican, issued a video reaction to the State of the Union. 

"The president called for unity and bi-partisanship. As a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I am confident that infrastructure is an area where Congress can deliver results for all Americans," said Rep. Pence, older brother of Vice President Mike Pence.

President @realDonaldTrump’s State of the Union address reflected an aspirational vision for the future. I look forward to working with President Trump on issues important to the 6th District and Indiana. #StateOfTheUnion #SOTU🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/dhtEJJ9X5x

— Rep. Greg Pence (@RepGregPence) February 6, 2019

Others were less optimistic about President Trump's message. Indiana Democratic Party Chairman John Zody said the president has inflicted damage on working families.

"The President and his allies fought to strip health care from millions of Hoosiers. They handed out billions in tax cuts to special interests and the top 1 percent and rewarded companies that outsourced American jobs with federal contracts. He shut down the government for 35 days and cozied up to foreign adversaries. Working families need a president that has their backs. Donald Trump has spent two years proving he doesn’t," said Zody.

What did the American public think of the president’s address to Congress? Republicans are giving Mr. Trump positive reviews for his State of the Union address. 

A new CNN poll says about six in 10 viewers had “very positive” reactions to the President's speech.  The poll found the audience was also the most partisan for a presidential address since 2001, and that viewers were about 17-percent more likely than the general public to identify as Republicans. 

About 87-percent of Republicans watching the address had “very positive” responses, while 64-percent of Democratic viewers had negative responses.  However, over half of those Republicans said they did not think Trump would succeed in creating bipartisanship between Democrats and Republicans.