REUTERS/Jonathan Drake
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures as if he is sleeping while talking about his opponent Jeb Bush during a Trump for President campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina December 4, 2015.
Toward the end of Obama's speech, the Republican presidential front-runner fired off a tweet criticizing the speech for being "boring."
"The #SOTU speech is really boring, slow, lethargic - very hard to watch!" Trump tweeted.
Other Republican presidential candidates also slammed the speech.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) posted a series of tweets going after Obama's claims about the American economic recovery and the president's rhetoric on national security issues.
The economy might be the best this President can do. But it's not the best America can do. #SOTU pic.twitter.com/3s6HCb8348
- Jeb Bush (@JebBush) January 13, 2016They're not just "killers and fanatics." They're radical Islamic terrorists. Still can't call them by name. #SOTU
- Jeb Bush (@JebBush) January 13, 2016Safer? ISIS on the rise. North Korea testing nukes. Syria in chaos. Taliban on march. This president is living in a different world. #SOTU
- Jeb Bush (@JebBush) January 13, 2016Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) livetweeted much of the speech, knocking Obama's policies on a variety of issues and poking fun at the president's addresses in general for being "painfully bad."
Is it true @POTUS thought about doing this #SOTU without Congress? After all, he does everything else without them. #Constitution
- Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) January 13, 2016
.@POTUS pats himself on the back for giving us an Affordable Care Act that nobody can afford. #SOTU
- Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) January 13, 2016.@BarackObama's speeches are like @TSA pat downs, Arab relations & untreated rashes. Painfully bad. But it will get worse. #SOTU
- Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) January 13, 2016And several candidates used the speech to take shots at their presidential rivals.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) released a five-minute rebuttal to Obama's speech, criticizing Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton for her role in the multi-national coalition's 2011 military intervention in Libya.
"What we saw was a leader with a record of failure in search of any meaningful positive legacy," Paul said. "President Obama and Hillary Clinton took us to war in Libya without Constitutional authority. The next president will have the daunting task of rebuilding an overextended military."
Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina also panned the speech, quickly pivoting in her statement to attacks on Clinton and Trump.
"We cannot elect Hillary Clinton to the White House. She has promised throughout her campaign to extend and expand Barack Obama's failed policies. And, like this President, she has always put
"We need a nominee who can beat Hillary and who will finally hold her accountable. One thing is clear: Hillary Clinton will wipe the floor with Donald Trump."