Trump only mentioned DREAMers once in his address — to insult them

Donald Trump’s State of the Union address was predictably divisive, and he alienated the majority of Americans who disagree with him even further with his treatment of young immigrants known as DREAMers.

Trump revoked protections from DREAMers last year and then caused a government shutdown by blowing up a bipartisan deal that would have restore them.

In fact, the one time he even bothered to use the term in his speech, it was to throw shade.

“So tonight, I am extending an open hand to work with members of both parties — Democrats and Republicans — to protect our citizens of every background, color, religion, and creed,” he said. “My duty, and the sacred duty of every elected official in this chamber, is to defend Americans — to protect their safety, their families, their communities, and their right to the American Dream. Because Americans are dreamers too.”

This is the only time in which he referred to the DREAMers by name in his entire State of the Union address — and it was a snide dismissal of their value.

Trump’s slights on immigrant young people were not lost on Klan leader David Duke, who gleefully tweeted out Trump’s line:

A few minutes later, Trump did mention DREAMers in the context of his nonstarter proposal to restore their protections in return for massively cutting legal immigration, but callously called them “illegal immigrants who were brought here by their parents at a young age.”

Trump’s lack of respect for the DREAMers is another warning that he is not negotiating in good faith. And Democrats should not be taken for suckers when they go to bat for the rights of young Americans.