Some Democrats to skip Trump's joint address to Congress

Yahoo

04-03-2025

Several Democrats have said they do not plan to attend President Donald Trump's joint address to Congress on Tuesday.
The address, which will be attended by members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, marks his first speech to Congress during his second term.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat from Michigan, is expected to deliver the Democratic rebuttal to Trump's speech.
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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has said he will be in attendance "to make clear to the nation that there is a strong opposition party ready, willing and able to serve as a check and balance on the excesses of the administration."
Here are the Democrats who have said they will skip Trump's remarks Tuesday night.
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has said she will not be attending the address.
"I'm not going to the Joint Address. I will be live posting and chatting with you all here instead. Then going on IG Live after," she wrote in a post on BlueSky.
Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy is also skipping Trump's remarks, and will instead attend an event with the progressive advocacy organization MoveOn.
"I think every Democrat needs to make up their own mind. I think that State of the Union speech is going to be a farce. I think it's gonna be a MAGA pep rally," Murphy told CNN. "We have to fight every single day, every single day."
"A lot of Democrats think maybe you should fight every third day, you should reserve your power and jump out of the bushes at the right moment," he added. "I just think we have to be on the offensive 24/7."
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Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden has said he will host an online town hall instead of watching the address.
"In this unprecedented time in American history, my top priority is making sure Oregonians from every corner of our state can keep weighing in directly with me," Wyden told ABC affiliate KEZI.
Washington Sen. Patty Murray said in a statement that she would skip Trump's address.
"I will not be attending President Trump's address to Congress. The state of the union is that the President is spitting in the face of the law and he is letting an unelected billionaire fire cancer researchers and wreck federal agencies like the Social Security Administration at will," Murray said.
Murray said she will instead be "meeting with constituents who have been harmed by this administration's reckless firings and its illegal and ongoing funding freeze across government."
In a statement to ABC News, New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich said he is "not going to President Trump's Joint Address tonight."
"I'll start attending when he starts following the law," he said.
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Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly is also sitting out Trump's remarks to Congress.
"Since being elected to Congress, I have never missed a State of the Union address," he wrote in a statement. "But we have never seen our democracy so tested. We have never seen our laws, institutions, and the separation of powers so attacked from within."
In a statement, Vermont Rep. Becca Balint announced she will not attend the address.
"I watched him take an oath to uphold and protect the constitution, and all he did was spew lies, stoke division and fear and make no effort to unify our country. I won't sit and watch him lie to the American people again," she wrote in a post on X.
Virginia Rep. Don Beyer is also skipping the event.
"This evening President Trump will address a coequal branch of government for which he has shown total contempt and disregard," Beyer wrote in a post on X. "Meanwhile my constituents are seeing their livelihoods destroyed, often illegally. What he is doing is not normal, it is not acceptable, and I won't be attending."
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Illinois Rep. Sean Casten will not be in attendance, his office told Axios.
Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette said in a statement that she would not be at the event.
"Trump's childish and shameful actions in the Oval Office towards Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as his barrage of illegal attacks against public servants and vulnerable groups, have disgraced and embarrassed our country," she said. "His actions are beneath the office of the President and do not merit my attendance at this Joint Address."
Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky also announced she would skip the speech.
"I will continue to take every opportunity I can to speak out against this Administration's efforts to dismantle our democracy, end Medicaid as we know it, get rid of Social Security or Medicare, undermine veterans benefits or nutritional assistance to children and families, and so much more," she said in a statement. "I have heard from thousands of constituents who want me to resist. That is why I will not attend tonight's joint address."
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Speaking from the Capitol, California Rep. Maxine Waters said she "absolutely will not be there" Tuesday night, The Hill reported.
"He's a dishonorable, deplorable human being," Waters said. "He's full of lies, and deceit, and he's aligned with Putin in Russia -- as a matter of fact, he should be tried for treason."
In a statement, Maryland Rep. Kweisi Mfume said he would not attend Trump's address.
"Donald Trump and Elon Musk are destroying the state of the union," he said. "I don't need to be there to watch him claim otherwise."
Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley said in a statement that he "cannot in good conscience adhere to the norm of attending his joint address," saying Trump has "set flame to every democratic norm and principle of our government."
"From starting a coup attempt on January 6, 2021, to appointing an oligarch to assault government services, and blatantly ignoring the separation of powers, Donald Trump has undermined our democracy every day since taking office," he said. "I plan to spend this time working on behalf of my constituents and focusing on making government work better to address the pressing problems facing Chicagoans including increasing prices for groceries, housing, and health care; public safety; and climate change."
Some Democrats to skip Trump's joint address to Congress originally appeared on abcnews.go.com