Trump's next State of the Union might happen in the middle of his impeachment trial


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Friday formally invited President Trump to deliver his 2020 State of the Union address on Tuesday, Feb. 4. Per the White House, Trump accepted.
Pelosi's letter came just two days after she led the House of Representatives in impeaching Trump, and his SOTU speech could well take place in the middle of his Senate trial.
The entire month of January remains in limbo on the Senate's calendar, though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told members to "be back and voting on Monday, Jan. 6." Further complicating matters is Pelosi's decision to delay naming the House's impeachment managers, who will act like prosecuting attorneys, until McConnell provides more information about his plans for the trial.
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When former President Bill Clinton was impeached, his 1999 State of the Union likewise coincided with his Senate trial. He did not mention impeachment in his address, a show of restraint Trump may not be able to replicate.
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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
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