More than 50 congressional Democrats plan to boycott President Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, participating instead in counter-programming or skipping events entirely.
The American Center for Law and Justice has already called Democrats’ move the “biggest SOTU boycott in history.”
Democratic leaders had warned their fellow members to either attend in “silent defiance” or not to go at all — suggesting that a repeat of Rep. Al Green’s performance from last year is not welcome.
Mr. Green, Texas Democrat, made a disruptive scene last year, resulting in him being ejected from the chamber and later censured.
“It is our expectation that there will be some members who attend and attend in silent defiance, and there will be other members who will choose not to attend,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York told reporters Tuesday.
A large number of Democrats will participate in the “People’s State of the Union,” a counter event hosted by MoveOn, a left-leaning public policy group, that will take place on the National Mall close to the Capitol starting at 8 p.m. Mr. Trump’s address starts at 9 p.m.
“I’m not going to the State of the Union. Trump has made a mockery of this tradition and I’m not going to show up and pretend everything’s normal,” Sen. Chris Murphy, Connecticut Democrat, wrote on X Tuesday, adding that he helped organize the People’s SOTU.
“I’m boycotting the #SOTU,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts Democrat, wrote on X Monday. “Because I refuse to sit and listen to that man spew lies and hate while the State of our Union is traumatizing our children & families.”
She will be sending children who have been “directly harmed & impacted by ICE” in her place while she attends the People’s SOTU.
“The State of the Union should be a reckoning with reality, but Donald Trump will use it to spin fiction and normalize the gross abuse of power. He will claim everything is fine while families struggle to afford health care and housing, immigrant communities live in fear, and his billionaire allies loot the country under the cover of chaos — I will not legitimize those lies,” Sen. Ed Markey, Massachusetts Democrat, said in a release.
Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, will also attend the People’s SOTU. He will send Epstein survivor Annie Farmer to Mr. Trump’s address at the Capitol. Other Democrats are also bringing Epstein survivors as their guests or sending them in their place.
Another counter-programming event dubbed the “State of the Swamp” will be held at The National Press Club. It’s hosted by DEFIANCE.org, among others, and is set to start at 7 p.m.
Sen. Ron Wyden, Oregon Democrat, is among the lawmaker attendees listed on the event’s website who have also said they were not attending the president’s address.
Some lawmakers who are listed to participate in the “State of the Swamp” still plan to occupy their seat at the Capitol, such as Rep. Eugene Vindman of Virginia.
He said he is attending Mr. Trump’s address “for one reason: duty.”
For “silent defiance,” the Democratic Women’s Caucus plans to wear white to honor suffragettes. Last year, they wore pink as part of their protest.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Democratic plans to boycott is “Trump Derangement Syndrome” on “full display.”
“It’s shameful that they would boycott an address. We don’t do that. Republicans don’t do that,” Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, said Tuesday. “It doesn’t matter if there’s a president from the opposing party. We don’t skip out. Our constituents want and need us to be here.”
The White House also criticized the boycotters.
“Every Democrat in Congress tried to pass a $4 trillion dollar tax hike and voted against the working and middle class tax cuts the American people are seeing right now in their refunds. Democrats all voted against securing the border and deporting criminal illegals. Democrats all voted against modernizing our military. The list goes on,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement.
“It’s not a surprise that they refuse to celebrate and honor the Americans who have benefited from the commonsense policies Republicans have governed with.”
