Several Democratic members are planning to boycott the first joint congressional address of President Donald Trump’s second term on Tuesday.
Trump will be addressing members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday evening, but some Democrats are planning to skip the event, including Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who will instead hold a live prebuttal of the speech.
“I think that State of the Union speech is going to be a farce. I think it’s going to be a MAGA pep rally, not a serious talk to the nation,” Murphy told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
“I think Donald Trump is going to spew a series of lies about his alignment with Russia, about what he’s trying to do to allow Elon Musk to essentially monetize the American government to enrich Musk and his billionaire crowd,” Murphy said. “And I’m just not going to be a part of that.”
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Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, will join Murphy for the prebuttal of the speech that will be livestreamed while Trump is speaking.
At least one House Democrat, Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., also said that he is going to be skipping the address.
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“The notion of half my colleagues rising and standing and enormous clapping for… things that I think are terrible for the American people every couple minutes will not be funny,” Beyer said of the address, according to POLITICO. “I don’t see that I’ll contribute anything to the event.”
House Democrats were asked by the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC) ahead of the speech to bring guests who have been “harmed” by the Trump administration, Fox News Digital learned.
“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 told Fox News Digital in a statement.
Several Democratic members attending the speech are planning to bring federal workers who have been laid off in recent weeks to protest the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) recent efforts to downsize federal agencies.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., will deliver the Democrats’ rebuttal address after Trump’s speech, focusing her remarks on what actions the administration is currently taking.
“The public expects leaders to level with them on what’s actually happening in our country,” Slotkin said in a statement. “From our economic security to our national security, we’ve got to chart a way forward that actually improves people’s lives in the country we all love, and I’m looking forward to laying that out.”
At least eight Democratic lawmakers planned to boycott Trump’s State of the Union address in 2020, including members of the progressive members such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Murphy, Schatz, and Beyer for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
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