CRI听力:Seeking Unity, Trump's First State of the Union Meets Division in Washington

Responses coming after US President Donald Trump's first State of the Union are casting doubt on whether his appeal for bipartisan unity has been well received.

Preliminary TV ratings from Nielsen showed that for his first State of the Union, Donald Trump drew around 40.4 million viewers across the United States.

Responses to the speech suggest Washington is on a path of further division, which is the opposite of what Trump called for on the night of January 30th.

In an interview with Fox News after the Capitol gathering, Texas republican senator Ted Cruz not only praised Trump's speech, but also suggested that Democrats are refusing to accept the reality of congressional success.

"It's stunning the successes we had in 2017, delivering our promises. And I the President did a terrific job highlighting that. It was stunning to watch Washington Democrats sit there stone-faced and refuse to applaud more jobs, higher wages, jobs coming back to America, refuse to applaud wins for the working men and women for this country."

In this much anticipated speech, Trump reiterated the proposals of his administration on several fronts they considered priorities for an "America First" approach. He touted a 1.5 trillion dollar infrastructure plan, tighter immigration policies, more spending on defense and so on. And most importantly, very different from his usual combative manner, he called for bipartisan unity.

"Tonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people. This is really the key. These are the people we were elected to serve."

Trump even tried to define a "new America moment."

"This, in fact, is our new American moment. There has never been a better time to start living the American Dream."

As he hailed what he called "the extraordinary success" of his administration's first year, congressional Republicans continued to give him waves of applause. However, Democrats sat stone-faced in their seats and jeers burst out when Trump's speech came to touch on immigration policy.

Delivered shortly after Trump's speech, the Democrats' official rebuttal by Massachusetts House Representative Joseph Kennedy challenged the values championed by Trump's administration.

"This administration isn't just targeting the laws that protect us — they are targeting the very idea that we are all worthy of protection. For them, dignity isn't something you're born with but something you measure. By your net worth, your celebrity, your headlines, your crowd size. Not to mention, the gender of your spouse. The country of your birth. The color of your skin. The God of your prayers. Their record is a rebuke of our highest American ideal: the belief that we are all worthy, we are all equal and we all count."

Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders said in his response, released on social media, that Trump was deceiving Americans by avoiding certain issues in the speech.

"The American people do not want a president who is compulsively dishonest, who is a bully, who actively represents the interests of the billionaire class, who is anti-science, and who is trying to divide us up based on the color of our skin, our nation of origin, our religion, our gender, or our sexual orientation."

Sanders pointed out the issues Trump chose not to talk about, such as climate change, the Russian investigation, the gap between rich and poor and so on, and said they will be critical in America's future.

A CBS poll after the State of the Union address reveals that three in four Americans who tuned in approved of the speech Trump gave. Only a quarter disapproved.

A survey conducted by Monmouth University found that 42% approve of the job Trump is doing, up by 10% from December last year.

It seems, however, Trump still has a long way to go to get leaders on Capitol hill to come together.