Trump brings out his inner conductor as Congress sings ‘Happy Birthday’ to Holocaust survivor

825 February 07, 2019 | by Jaimie-lee Prince

During the State of the Union, President Donald Trump introduced a two-time massacre survivor. The honored guest also celebrated his 81st birthday and received a song.

Trump's inner conductor came out as the audience for the State of the Union speech broke into song for Judah Samet. The 81-year-old is both a Pittsburgh survivor and a Holocaust survivor.

Last year, Samet was one of the few who came out alive when a shooter entered the Tree of Life synagogue and killed almost a dozen people. Years prior, he "narrowly survived the Nazi concentration camps."

After a lengthy round of applause from the audience, some guests began singing "Happy Birthday" to Samet. At one point, the president swung his hands as if to guide the singing.

When they were through, another round of applause arose. Afterward, Samet made a microphone with his hands and shouted out "Thank you!" to all the guests and Trump.

Trump then joked:

"They wouldn't do that for me, Judah."

Samet, who was born in Debrecen, Hungary, survived the Holocaust along with his family. He lived with five others. All were rounded up in 1944 when German Gestapo agents arrived.

At one point, they had the option of leaving the affected town by train. Their mother encouraged it, and they were later rescued by Americans. Sadly, Samet's father Yekutil succumbed to a case of typhoid.

Thereafter they emigrated to Israel. Samet's mother was a trooper while he reportedly worked with the Israeli Defense Forces as a paratrooper and a radioman.

Recalling his mom who died at age 82, Samet said:

"My story shouldn't evoke any heroism, at least on my part. The hero in my story was my mother."

In the 1960s, he made his way as an immigrant to the United States. He met a woman while living in New York City. The woman was from Pittsburg, where it turned out Satem would have to struggle through another horrific event.

The State of the Union Speech was filled with a few touching moments such as in Satem's case. Yet it also consisted of serious topics like unity, the Russian investigation, and the border wall.

Trump started off by saying:

"There is a new opportunity in American politics if only we have the courage to seize it. Victory is not winning for our party. Victory is winning for our country."

Then things took a somewhat dark twist. Trump went after Democrats for investigating him for collusion with Russia.

Trump said:

"If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation. It just doesn't work that way."

Trump also argued for the border wall. He is demanding $5.7 billion from the Democrats to help fund it. If they don't provide it, Trump has threated to declare a national emergency if they don't offer the money.

There's one young boy who couldn't seem to care less about Trump's plans. 11-year-old Joshua Trump was invited to the speech after being bullied for having the same last name as the president.

We think that a presidential invitation helped his situation along with his other means of support, so when Joshua dozed off, it was a sight to behold.