Democrats Use Their SOTU Invites to Send Trump a Message

Democrats attending President Donald Trump’s annual State of the Union address on Tuesday are planning to flood the event with people who have been caught up in the administration’s mass deportation dragnet, as well as a number of others affected by policies championed by the president and his Make America Great Again movement.

Trump said on Monday that the joint address is expected to be a long one, with invitations extended to both the men’s and women’s gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic hockey teams. Dozens of Democrats also announced plans to stage a counter-address on the National Mall.

Minnesota Reps. Betty McCollum and Kelly Morrison plan to bring the surviving family of state Rep. Melissa Hortman, who was murdered in her home last year along with her husband.

“My parents taught me to show up for your community, stand up for your values, and always follow the golden rule — treat others the way you’d want to be treated,” Colin Hortman, the lawmaker’s son, said in a release. “What has stunned me, especially in recent years, is how far our politics have drifted from that principle.”

New Hampshire Rep. Jeanne Shaheen will be joined by Elsy Cipriani, the executive director of the New Hampshire Food Bank, which Shaheen said in a statement is struggling to maintain operations under Trump’s funding cuts.

“In every corner of New Hampshire, people are being squeezed by rising costs that our President has made worse with policies like his tariffs that are making life more expensive for families,” Shaheen said. “President Trump couldn’t be more wrong when he calls the affordability concerns of working Americans a ‘hoax.’”

Several Democrats plan to bring survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Reps. James Walkinshaw, Pramila Jayapal, Ilhan Omar, Emily Randall, Maxine Dexter, Robert Garcia, Ro Khanna and Teresa Leger Fernandez.

“I’m proud to bring Dani Bensky — a New Yorker and survivor of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse — as my guest to the State of the Union to demand the truth,” Schumer said in a statement. “Dani has turned unimaginable pain into unrelenting advocacy, calling on President Trump to release every file and follow the law.”

“Instead, Trump’s DOJ is stonewalling: slow-walking disclosures, blacking out page after page. That’s not transparency,” Schumer continued. “It’s a cover-up. Period. The powerful don’t deserve protection. Survivors deserve justice.”

In addition to Bensky, Schumer extended invitations to five constituents who rely on the Affordable Care Act, have family members in immigration detention or who work on infrastructure projects being targeted by the Trump administration.

New Mexico Rep. Melanie Stansbury will be joined by state Rep. Andrea Romero, who founded the state’s “Truth Commission,” to investigate Epstein’s property, Zorro Ranch, in the state.

Virginia Rep. Suhas Subramanyam and Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin will be joined by the brother- and sister-in-law of the late Epstein survivor Virginia Giuffre.

“The Trump administration is fighting our push for justice at every step with a cover up,” Subramanyam said in a statement. “It is an honor to bring Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s family as our guests for the State of the Union to be a visible reminder to Trump that we’re not giving in or giving up.”

Republicans, meanwhile, are stacking their invite list with those on the other side of Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown.

Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota will be joined by Blaine Police Chief Brian Podany, who, he said in a statement, is “experiencing the benefits of the Working Families Tax Cuts – no tax on overtime, less regulation, and pro-growth business policies.”

Internet influencers Nick Shirley and David Hoch, who gained notoriety in December with an internet series accusing several Minnesota Somali-owned daycare centers of fraud, will be in attendance under the invitation of Minnesota Rep. Pete Stauber.

“By revealing stunning levels of obvious fraud to the American people, Nick and David did more work and showed more transparency than the Minnesota Department of Human Services,” Stauber said in a statement. “It is deeply concerning that private citizens, and not the Walz Administration, were the ones to reveal the true extent of the problem.”

Texas Sen. John Cornyn named Border Patrol union chief Paul Perez as his guest late last week, a pick that will likely prove significant for his ongoing reelection campaign. The union has endorsed Cornyn on the campaign trail and appeared at several events.

“I’m proud to welcome him to President Trump’s State of the Union address next week as my guest and look forward to continuing our work together to bolster border security, counter the disgraceful demonization of law enforcement by the Left, and keep Americans safe,” Cornyn said in a statement.

Trump’s joint address is scheduled for 9 p.m. EST on Tuesday and will be followed by a Democratic address led by Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and a Spanish-language address led by Sen. Alex Padilla.