美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump Gives State Of The Union Amid Impeachment, Like Clinton

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

President Trump¹ gives his State of the Union speech tonight in the midst of his impeachment³ 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, BYLINE⁴: 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 defense⁵ to senators. Charles Ruff was White House counsel.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CHARLES RUFF: He did not commit perjury⁶. He did not obstruct⁷ justice. He must not be removed from office.

KEITH: When Clinton entered the House chamber⁸ that night, members of Congress stood and applauded. The Republican speaker of the House who had voted to impeach² 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 presidency⁹ actually hung in the balance.

KEITH: And in reality, much as today, there wasn't a lot of suspense¹⁰ 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 impeached¹¹ but not yet acquitted¹². 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 tout¹³ 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 Democrats¹⁴, including possible election opponents in the chamber. He wouldn't say whether Trump would mention impeachment, but last year, with the Russia investigation¹⁵ 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 investigations¹⁶, yet there were also a handful of bipartisan legislative¹⁷ accomplishments¹⁸. 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 passionately¹⁹ 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 adjourn²⁰ the trial and trudge²¹ over to the House chamber and sit there while Bill Clinton got up to the rostrum and gave an ebullient²², confident, even visionary State of the Union speech on national television. I think it was a truly miserable²³ 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.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 impeach   

v.弹劾；检举

参考例句：

• We must impeach the judge for taking bribes.我们一定要检举法官收受贿赂。
• The committee decided to impeach the President.委员会决定弹劾总统。

3 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 perjury   

n.伪证；伪证罪

参考例句：

• You'll be punished if you procure the witness to commit perjury.如果你诱使证人作伪证，你要受罚的。
• She appeared in court on a perjury charge.她因被指控做了伪证而出庭受审。

7 obstruct   

v.阻隔，阻塞(道路、通道等)；n.阻碍物，障碍物

参考例句：

• He became still more dissatisfied with it and secretly did everything in his power to obstruct it.他对此更不满意，尽在暗里使绊子。
• The fallen trees obstruct the road.倒下的树将路堵住了。

8 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

9 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

10 suspense   

n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑

参考例句：

• The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
• The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。

11 impeached   

v.控告（某人）犯罪( impeach的过去式和过去分词 )；弹劾；对（某事物）怀疑；提出异议

参考例句：

• Elected officials can be impeached. 经过选举产生的官员可以被弹劾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The judge was impeached for taking a bribe. 这个法官被检举接受贿赂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

13 tout   

v.推销，招徕；兜售；吹捧，劝诱

参考例句：

• They say it will let them tout progress in the war.他们称这将有助于鼓吹他们在战争中的成果。
• If your case studies just tout results,don't bother requiring registration to view them.如果你的案例研究只是吹捧结果，就别烦扰别人来注册访问了。

14 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

16 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

17 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

18 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

19 passionately   

ad.热烈地，激烈地

参考例句：

• She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿，也能爱得一往情深。
• He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。

20 adjourn   

v.（使）休会，（使）休庭

参考例句：

• The motion to adjourn was carried.休会的提议通过了。
• I am afraid the court may not adjourn until three or even later.我担心法庭要到3点或更晚时才会休庭。

21 trudge   

v.步履艰难地走；n.跋涉，费力艰难的步行

参考例句：

• It was a hard trudge up the hill.这趟上山是一次艰难的跋涉。
• The trudge through the forest will be tiresome.长途跋涉穿越森林会令人疲惫不堪。

22 ebullient   

adj.兴高采烈的，奔放的

参考例句：

• He was ebullient over the reception of his novel.他因小说获好评而兴高采烈。
• She wrote the ebullient letter when she got back to her flat.她一回到自己的寓所,就写了那封热情洋溢的信。

23 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。