President Trump’s State of the Union has received mixed reaction from both sides of the aisle. While Trump maintained his hard line on border security and criticism of the Russia investigation, he also called for unity. So did Georgia Democrat and former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who delivered the Democratic response.
One of the women standing behind Abrams while she delivered her speech was Adrienne White, who says she met Abrams when she organized a "Vote to Run" initiative.
“I think the root of unity is community, and we all live next to somebody that we hopefully get along with, or we can make progress together,” White said.
Georgia Republican Rep. Doug Collins brought a conservative leader from Gainesville’s Latino community to D.C. for Trump’s State of the Union – Art Gallegos Jr., the co-founder of the Latinos Conservative Organization, a Republican group that works with community members, elected officials and church leaders to raise awareness about issues important to the Latino community, including education and the economy.
“It was just awesome,” Gallegos said about the experience of seeing the State of the Union up close. He also said that he believes unity can be achieved.
“As long as people are willing to engage with one another, I think we can find solutions for problems,” Gallegos said. “I feel strongly that that has been happening on the part of the President.”
Rep. Collins agreed, stating that he believes he and Abrams can put their differences aside.
“I came into the legislature many years with her. I disagree with her on most policy issues, but I still consider her someone I can talk to, and I think, what we have to do is have those dinner-time conversations,” Collins said. “There’s many of us that want to do that, and we’ve proven that we can.”