Democrats to Boycott State of the Union With Progressive Activists

Twelve Democrats plan to skip President Donald Trump’s Feb. 24 State of the Union address to attend a left-wing activist event titled the “People’s State of the Union,” instead.

The event, hosted by progressive political advocacy group MoveOn and left-wing media outlet MeidasTouch, will be held on the National Mall during Trump’s State of the Union address as a form of protesting the Trump administration, according to a MoveOn press release.

“We cannot give Trump the attention he wants, or validate his lies to the American people,” MoveOn states on a flyer for the event. “We cannot treat this SOTU as business as usual.”

The event, hosted by former MSNBC anchors Joy Reid and Katie Phang, will feature people “impacted” by Trump, including Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and the chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas.

“Democrats have no obligation to reward him with an audience as he lies and attacks people who disagree with him,” Murphy wrote in MoveOn’s press release.

Van Hollen echoed his colleague’s remarks, adding that he ““will not normalize Donald Trump’s march toward fascism by attending his state of the union address.”

“We cannot pretend this is business as usual,” the senator added. 

Other Democratic officials in attendance will include Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., Rep. Becca Balint, D-Verm., Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, and Rep. Deila Ramirez, D-Ill.

In a statement, Ansari said that this event builds on her protest of Trump’s joint address to Congress last year.

“Last year, I walked out of President Trump’s State of the Union because I refused to normalize the most corrupt and authoritarian administration in American history,” Ansari said in a statement. “This year, we are elevating the voices of those directly harmed by this administration’s policies.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who recently introduced the “Trans Bill of Rights,” will also attend the event.

Trump, Jayapal says, “is trampling on our constitutional rights and completely disregarding the rule of law in this country — all while saying everything is going great. We don’t need to hear his take on the State of the Union.”

Democrats confirmed their participation at the event after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries urged Democratic officials to sit in “quiet defiance” or miss the entirety of the address.  

Other progressive-aligned entities, such as a campaign from the non-profit Amplify Edge called Young People Address the Nation, echoed Jeffries’s remarks by urging members of Congress to boycott the address earlier this week.

“Young people are not asking for symbolic statements,” Young People Address the Nation Executive Producer Dillon St. Bernard wrote in a communique obtained by The Daily Signal. “When constitutional norms and civil liberties are in question, pretending this is business as usual sends the wrong message.”

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