Last night, President Trump gave what sounded like a campaign speech. He mocked Democrats, decried “wokeness,” bragged about his accomplishments and repeated falsehoods. Except this speech wasn’t delivered at a rally. It was in Congress, and the audience included Democrats. The mood was sour, and the parties jeered at each other. The evening showcased the chasm in our polarized politics.

Democrats repeatedly interrupted Trump. Representative Al Green of Texas waved his cane and shouted when Trump said he’d won a mandate. Green refused to sit down, and the House speaker ordered security to remove him. Democrats continued to yell throughout the speech. Many held signs saying “FALSE.”

Trump egged on the confrontation. He said Democrats wouldn’t clap or cheer at anything he said or did — even if he cured a deadly disease or eliminated crime. “They won’t do it, no matter what,” Trump said.

Democratic lawmakers during the joint address.Credit…Kenny Holston/The New York Times

At one point, Trump pointed to Republicans to say, “It’s our presidency.” He called Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts “Pocahontas.” He derided Democrats for launching criminal investigations against him. “How did that work out?” he asked.

The back and forth would have been unthinkable during most of the formal, and typically stuffy, addresses that presidents have given to joint sessions of Congress for more than a century. Consider the outrage that milder displays drew in previous years: In 2005, pundits from both parties condemned Democrats for booing George W. Bush during his State of the Union speech. In 2009, a Republican congressman publicly apologized after interrupting Barack Obama’s speech by yelling, “You lie!”

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