A Growing Number of Democrats Are Skipping Trump’s State of the Union Address

A growing number of Democrats won’t be in the House chamber Tuesday when President Donald Trump gives his State of the Union address.

They’re instead boycotting the speech by going to counterprograms, launching their own responses outside the chamber or staying home. About 20 Democrats are already slated to attend “The People’s State of the Union” event on the National Mall, hosted by progressive organizations MoveOn and MeidasTouch. A spokesperson for MoveOn told NOTUS that number is expected to grow through Tuesday. And Defiance.org is hosting the “State of the Swamp” event at the National Press Club with several current and former lawmakers.

“We’ll be criticized for it. I get that,” Rep. John Larson, who is attending the People’s State of the Union, told NOTUS. “But I’m willing to take the heat for being willing to tell the truth.”

“This isn’t just people sitting there meekly listening and absorbing,” Larson added. “[Trump is] entitled to say whatever he wants to say, and he should be listened to respectfully while he’s there — anyone, for that matter. But I’m under no obligation to sit through it, and further, believe that I have an obligation to make sure that people hear that there is a distinct other side to this.”

This is the first time in his nearly three-decade congressional tenure that Larson had considered skipping a State of the Union. Instead of escorting his guests Moises Ricardo and his son Marlon Ricardo Camejo to the House chamber, he is inviting them to the event on the National Mall. Moises Ricardo immigrated from Cuba 17 years ago and had his citizenship appointment canceled, according to Larson’s office, after the Trump administration paused all immigration cases from several countries.

As the ranking member on the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee, Larson said he walked out of Trump’s joint address last year when the president started telling “outright lies” about social security fraud. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, a retiring New Jersey Democrat, told NOTUS she isn’t going to the speech because she “knew that the president can’t open his mouth without lying.”

“I sat through another one of his State of the Unions — made me very uncomfortable, made me really kind of like twitch and turn — like do I get up now? What’s the best thing for me to do?” she said. “Well, the best thing for me to do is to not be in his presence.”

Trump’s joint address to Congress last year was defined by Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas yelling at the president and waving his cane in the air, then being ejected from the chamber and later censured. Democrats also held up a variety of signs and occasionally heckled the president.

“I don’t think that what we saw in Congress last year was particularly helpful. I think it made us the story,” Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware told NOTUS about the joint address.

“I hope and don’t anticipate that we will see the same thing this year,” McBride added.

Attending “a variety” of counter events near the Capitol instead of the speech is one of “two options” that Democrats have, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Wednesday. The other, he said, is to “attend with silent defiance.” Jeffries plans to attend the address. Top leaders from both parties traditionally escort the president into the chamber.

Rep. Chellie Pingree won’t be at Trump’s speech but intends to bring a guest to speak at the People’s State of the Union about the Immigration and Customs Enforcement surge in Maine. She told NOTUS she generally likes the State of the Union event and has attended Trump’s addresses before, “but it’s come to the point where he has no respect for Congress.” Pingree added that she doesn’t “want to sit for two or more hours listening to him lie, disrespect Congress, disrespect the American public.”

“We’re not a captive audience, but we are a coequal branch, and you have to treat your equals with respect and be willing to work with them,” Pingree said. “We’re not just a sycophant forum.”

Rep. Yassamin Ansari isn’t going to the State of the Union because she refuses “to legitimize” Trump’s “corrupt, authoritarian regime.”

“Instead, I’ll attend the People’s State of the Union alongside Sonia, who’s loved one Yari was stripped of her residency and is suffering from leukemia inside the Eloy Detention Center,” Ansari told NOTUS in a statement, referencing an ICE facility in Arizona.

Rep. Jim Himes posted that he’s never missed a State of the Union, but he won’t be going to this one and will be on the National Mall instead. Others slated to attend the protest event are Reps. Sara Jacobs, Emily Randall, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Mary Gay Scanlon, Greg Casar, Veronica Escobar, Delia Ramirez and Pramila Jayapal, and Sens. Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley, Chris Murphy, Tina Smith and Chris Van Hollen.

Rep. Becca Balint, Vermont’s sole representative, told NOTUS she will bring Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian student at Columbia University, to the People’s State of the Union. Mahdawi was detained by ICE at what was supposed to be a meeting about potential citizenship. A judge blocked his deportation last week.

While Balint attended Trump’s inauguration and said she respects the office of the president, “I do feel like we’ve reached a point where we each have to examine for ourselves, how much does our participation normalize what is happening?” she said.

Other Democrats skipping the address are more focused on their home states. Sen. Ruben Gallego said Friday he will be staying in Arizona instead of going to the State of the Union. And Sen. Patty Murray isn’t attending either but will deliver her own livestreamed address to the state of Washington. Murray will feature guests from the state affected by the Trump administration’s actions and “outline exactly how President Trump has failed hardworking Americans and thrown the country into chaos,” a spokesperson told NOTUS on Thursday.

While some are publicly revealing their plans, most Hill Democrats haven’t announced whether or not they will boycott Trump’s speech. For example, McBride told NOTUS she “currently” plans to be in the chamber, but she’s exploring other options.

“I hesitate to allow Donald Trump to speak to a room of exclusively sycophants,” McBride said.

Some Democrats are using the speech as a way to weigh in on the president’s policies or to draw attention to an issue they want to highlight to the national audience. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a moderate Democrat from Nevada, has plans to be in the chamber with a guest “that has been impacted by the Trump administration’s disastrous economic policies, especially when it comes to travel and tourism,” a spokesperson for Cortez Masto told NOTUS.

Rep. Ro Khanna will be there, alongside a victim of Jeffrey Epstein who voted for Trump. Chair of the House Democratic Caucus Rep. Pete Aguilar will be in the chamber, according to a spokesperson.

Jeffries made an argument on Wednesday for why he’s attending: “We’re not going to Donald Trump’s house. He’s coming to our house. It’s my view that you don’t let anyone ever run you off of your block.”