On Tuesday, several Democratic Members planned out a boycott of President Donald Trump’s congressional address for his second term in office.
Trump is scheduled to address members of the House of Representatives as well as the Senate on Tuesday night at the U.S. Capitol. However, some Democrats plan to miss the event. One of them, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, will hold a prebuttal of his speech live.
I think the State of the Union address is going to end up being a farce. Murphy said on CNN’s State of the Union that the speech would be “a MAGA rally” and not a serious address to the country.
Murphy stated, “I believe Donald Trump will spew out a series lies about his alliance with Russia and about the things he is trying to accomplish to enable Elon Musk to monetize American government to enrich Musk’s billionaire group.” “I’m not going to take part in that.”
Murphy will be joined by Democratic Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii for the livestreamed prebuttal to the speech.
One House Democrat has also stated that he will be missing the speech. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.).Beyer, according to POLITICO, said that the idea of “half my colleagues standing up and clapping loudly for…things I consider terrible for the American public every few minutes” would not be humorous. I don’t think that I will contribute to this event in any way.
According to Fox, “The House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee asked House Democrats to invite guests ‘harmed by Trump’s administration’ before the speech.”
“DPCC and Leader Jeffries have encouraged members to bring guests that have been harmed by Donald Trump’s threats to Medicare and SNAP, as well as his Administration’s mass firings of veterans working in our civil service — veterans like Gabe, a disabled Marine veteran and new dad who was working at the IRS as a facilities manager until he was fired last month,” a Democratic aide stated.
Several Democratic Members attending the Speech plan to bring Federal Workers who were laid off within the last few weeks to protest recent attempts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to shrink federal agencies.
After Trump’s address, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) will give the Democrats’ response, with her comments focusing on the current actions of the Trump administration.
Slotkin stated in a press release that “the public expects their leaders to be honest with them about what is going on in our country.”
Eight Democratic members of Congress, including progressives such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York, planned to boycott Trump’s State of the Union Address in 2020.
