Party leaders opted for a soberly delivered, centrist counter to the president’s speech, but the dominant image of Democratic pushback was a liberal congressman waving his cane in protest.

The freshman senator from a swing state, a former CIA analyst, scrutinized Donald Trump’s handling of Russia’s war on Ukraine, saying that he “would have lost us the Cold War.”

"After the spectacle that just took place in the Oval Office last week, Reagan must be rolling over in his grave," Slotkin said, referring to Trump and Ukrainian President Volodym