{"id":10271,"date":"2026-02-18T18:12:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T18:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/02\/18\/at-least-12-democratic-lawmakers-plan-to-boycott-trumps-state-of-the-union-address-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T18:12:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T18:12:10","slug":"at-least-12-democratic-lawmakers-plan-to-boycott-trumps-state-of-the-union-address-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/02\/18\/at-least-12-democratic-lawmakers-plan-to-boycott-trumps-state-of-the-union-address-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"At least 12 Democratic lawmakers plan to boycott Trump’s State of the Union address – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Listen to this article with a <\/span>free account<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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At least a dozen Democratic members of Congress plan to boycott President Donald Trump\u2019s State of the Union address at the Capitol next Tuesday and are scheduled to attend a rally on the National Mall instead.<\/p>\n

Progressive groups MoveOn and MeidasTouch announced Wednesday that they’re hosting the \u201cPeople\u2019s State of the Union\u201d rally at 8:30 p.m. ET near the Capitol. The event is billed as “counterprogramming” to “President Trump\u2019s night full of lies and misplaced priorities for the American people.” The groups said, “Democratic lawmakers will be joined on stage by the everyday Americans most impacted by Trump\u2019s dangerous agenda.”<\/p>\n

The lawmakers planning to skip the speech and attend the rally, according to the organizers, include Sens. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Tina Smith of Minnesota, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, as well as Reps. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, Becca Balint of Vermont, Greg Casar of Texas, Veronica Escobar of Texas, Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Delia Ramirez of Illinois, and Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey.<\/p>\n

\u201cNext week, Trump will deliver his State of the Union address. I won\u2019t be there,” Van Hollen wrote in a post on X<\/a> Wednesday. “Trump is marching America towards fascism, and I refuse to normalize his shredding of our Constitution & democracy. This cannot be business as usual.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphy said in a statement that Trump has made “a mockery” of the State of the Union address, “taking a moment that is meant to bring the country together and turning it into a campaign rally to spew hatred and division.” He added, “Democrats have no obligation to reward him with an audience as he lies and attacks people who disagree with him.”<\/p>\n

Similarly, Balint said in a statement that the State of the Union address \u201cis meant to be a serious reflection of our nation\u2019s progress, our shortfalls, and the common goals ahead of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of sitting through what has become President Trump\u2019s annual self-congratulation, misinformation, and division speech, I look forward to a night of standing with colleagues, organizers, advocates, and everyday Americans who are committed to doing the real and honest work of protecting our rights, strengthening our communities, and holding those in power accountable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Reached for comment, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson criticized Democrats for voting against tax cuts and opposing other parts of Trump’s agenda like border security. “It\u2019s not a surprise that they refuse to celebrate and honor the Americans who have benefitted from the commonsense policies Republicans have governed with,” she said.<\/p>\n

Historically, the president’s opposing party conveys its opposition to the annual speech with an official response immediately after the address. But since Trump’s first term as president, in addition to delivering a formal response, Democrats have displayed their dissenting views in other ways. A number of Democratic lawmakers have either skipped the president\u2019s speech, walked out of the chamber mid-address, have been thrown out of the chamber or have taken other action to make their disdain for his remarks clear. <\/p>\n

During Trump’s speech last year, which is called a joint address to Congress in the first year of a presidential term, Rep. Al Green of Texas, was removed from the House chamber by the sergeant-at-arms after jeering at Trump<\/a>. Numerous Democrats walked out in protest after Trump taunted Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and called her “Pocahontas.” Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, and Rep. Maxine Waters of California, were among the Democrats who boycotted the address altogether. Other Democrats who attended the speech held up white signs as Trump spoke<\/a> that called him “king” and “liar” and others that said “Save Medicaid” and “Musk Steals” <\/p>\n

As soon as Trump finished his final State of the Union address during his first term in 2020, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, famously tore up a paper copy of the speech<\/a> as she stood behind him on the dais. <\/p>\n

\u201cI tore up a manifesto of mistruths,\u201d Pelosi later told reporters about the move. \u201cIt was necessary to get the attention of the American people to say, \u2018This is not true, and this is how it affects you,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t need any lessons from anybody \u2014 especially the president of the United States \u2014 about dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York told reporters Tuesday that it was his “present intention to be at the State of the Union” next week. If Democrats win back control of the House majority in this year’s midterm elections, and if Jeffries is elected speaker, he could be sitting behind Trump in his address next year.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re not going to his house. He\u2019s coming to our house, and it\u2019s the people\u2019s house,” Jeffries said. “And having grown up where I grew up, you never let anyone run you off your block.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Listen to this article with a free account At least a dozen Democratic members of Congress plan to boycott President Donald Trump\u2019s State of the Union address at the Capitol next Tuesday and are scheduled to attend a rally on the National Mall instead. Progressive groups MoveOn and MeidasTouch announced Wednesday that they’re hosting the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}