Congressional Democrats who boycotted President Trump’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday gathered at a rally outside the Capitol, accusing him of dividing the country and harming Americans through his immigration, health care and economic policies.
While Gov. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia delivered her party’s formal response to the president’s speech, dozens more Democrats took to the stage at a rally on the National Mall called the “People’s State of the Union.”
Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona accused the president and Republicans in Congress of making their constituents “sicker, poorer and less secure” over the last year.
“Let’s change that America,” he said. “We are better than what’s under that Capitol right now.”
Democrats condemned the Trump administration’s violent immigration crackdown in cities across the country and said the burden of higher health insurance costs and the rising prices for everyday products had crippled Americans.
“Trump’s promises have all been broken,” said Senator Adam Schiff of California. “He promised to bring down costs but inflation is up. He promised to bring back jobs but manufacturing has fled. He promised to end trade deficits but they have reached all time highs.”
The “affordability crisis” is not a “hoax,” as the president claimed, said Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. “It’s real, and we all need to make sure that we put forward ideas to deal with it.”
Democrats who left their seats in the chamber said they did not want to legitimize Mr. Trump at a time when the president has routinely defied the constitutional limits on his authority, including by issuing widespread tariffs that the Supreme Court ruled illegal, and after federal immigration agents fatally shot at least three American citizens
“Our union is not strong when Americans fear they can be killed or taken by masked agents in our streets,” said Representative Greg Casar of Texas.
Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut told the crowd of around 100 people that the Trump administration was “murdering American citizens.” He said Democrats would not back down from their push to place new limits on federal immigration officials, a standoff with Republicans that had led to a shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security.
Like their colleagues in the chamber, Democrats brought guests to the rally, organized by the left-wing advocacy group MoveOn and MeidasTouch, a progressive media company. They included immigrants targeted by federal law enforcement and federal workers fired for criticizing the administration’s policies.
Some Democrats, including Representatives Sydney Kamlager-Dove of California and Pramila Jayapal of Washington, invited victims of the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to the State of the Union as their guests in the House chamber, but did not attend themselves. “They are demanding that they be seen,” Ms. Jayapal said at the rally outside the Capitol.
Senator Chuck Schumer of New York and Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the two minority leaders, both attended the president’s address but said it was up to each member of their party to decide whether to attend. Dozens of members chose to be absent.
Not all Democrats agreed with skipping and many chose to file into the chamber for the president’s nearly two-hour speech. “If he’s coming to our house, you got to be there,” Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said before the address. “Otherwise, you let him own the house.”
Ty Matthew Burrell, 22, attended the rally and said Democrats “have to do everything that they can,” inside and outside the Capitol to repair the damage done by the president.
“The country is very divided,” Mr. Burrell said. “But I have hope that things will get better, that accountability is on the horizon and that this country will start to heal.”
Megan Mineiro is a Times congressional reporter and a member of the 2025-26 Times Fellowship class, a program for early-career journalists.
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