President Donald Trump had barely finished his State of the Union address when the White House erupted over the Democratic rebuttal.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who delivered the official Democratic response Tuesday night, sharply criticized Trump’s immigration policies, economic record, and what she described as ethical lapses inside the administration. Her remarks triggered an immediate and profane counterattack from the administration’s rapid response team.
As Spanberger spoke about the president’s immigration crackdown, the White House’s @RapidResponse47 account posted on X that she should “spare us the sanctimonious bulls–t.” The account went on to accuse her of prioritizing “criminal illegals” over Americans and claimed she had undermined border security during her time in Congress and after taking office as governor.
Earlier in the day, the White House had issued a preemptive statement blasting Spanberger and what it called “the Radical Left lunatics in her party,” accusing Democrats of opposing Trump’s agenda on lowering costs, reviving manufacturing, and tightening border enforcement.
Republican allies quickly amplified the attack. The official House Republican Conference account posted a “FACT CHECK” during Spanberger’s speech, defending Immigration and Customs Enforcement and accusing Democrats of trying to obstruct efforts to remove dangerous criminals.
In her rebuttal, delivered from Colonial Williamsburg, Spanberger focused heavily on affordability and cost-of-living concerns. “Is the president working to make life more affordable for you and your family?” she asked. “We all know the answer is no.”
She also delivered a pointed critique of the administration’s immigration enforcement tactics, accusing federal agents of conducting warrantless arrests and detaining American citizens. “Our broken immigration system is something to be fixed,” she said, “not an excuse for unaccountable agents to terrorize our communities.”
Spanberger went further, questioning the administration’s handling of the Epstein files and accusing Trump of enriching himself and his allies. “You have to ask: who benefits from his rhetoric, his policies, his actions?” she said. “The scale of the corruption is unprecedented.”
The fiery exchange underscored the widening political divide on display Tuesday night: Trump touting his record before Congress, and Democrats framing his leadership as chaotic, self-serving, and harmful to working families.
Spanberger, who previously served in Congress from 2019 to 2025, was elected Virginia’s first female governor last November in a closely watched race that flipped the state’s governorship. Her sharp response — and the White House’s explosive reaction — ensured that the rebuttal became almost as headline-grabbing as the speech itself.
