Last year, President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address since retaking the White House was met with vocal opposition from Democratic lawmakers, but next week on Tuesday, Democrats have a new plan to push back against the president with an unprecedented “break with tradition,” The New York Times reported Wednesday.
Last March, Democratic lawmakers were seen sporting signs with labels like “False” and “Save Medicaid” to protest Trump’s first State of the Union since retaking office, and Rep. Al Green (D-TX) was ejected from the chamber after interrupting the president’s address.
This year, however, Democrats plan to take a new approach: a “substantial number” of Democratic lawmakers plan to skip the event entirely and host an alternative event, a “People’s State of the Union,” the Times reported.
“He’s made a mockery of the State of the Union speech and he doesn’t deserve an audience,” said Sen. Christopher Murphy (D-CT), the Times reported.
“He’s going to tell 40 different lies, call Democrats names; he’s going to paper over his corruption, and I don’t feel like what he’s doing dignifies having Democrats there to cloak the speech in a veneer of respectability.”
The alternative event – organized in part by the progressive organization MoveOn – is planned to take place simultaneously with Trump’s address and be held at the National Mall near the Capitol. Such an event would be unprecedented given the lack of historical precedent for a president’s State of the Union address being met with a sizable boycott.
“We cannot normalize this moment when Trump is marching our country toward fascism,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), speaking with the Times. “I refuse to be a prop in the chamber as Donald Trump shreds our Constitution and attacks our democracy.”
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