President Trump will deliver his first State of the Union address tonight, but not all of Congress will be there.
Here’s who’s said they’re planning on skipping the President’s address:
- Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Florida, announced via Twitter: “I cannot in good consciousness attend the #SOTU address after the president went so low in his remarks about Haiti & African nations. It would be hypocrisy to go to an event at which he is honored.”
- Following Trump’s reported "S--thole" comments about various nations during an immigration reform meeting, Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, said he would not attend
- Rep. Maxine Waters, D-California, a harsh Trump critic, also said she wouldn’t be going
- Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, outlined why she wouldn’t be attending
- Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, said in early January that he would not go
- Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-New York, tweeted: “He does not respect me or the communities I represent, so I cannot in good conscience sit idly on the House floor and listen to his scripted speech. #SOTU.”
- Democratic Reps. Danny Davis, Jan Schakowsky and Bobby Rush of Illinois all have said they plan to skip Tuesday night’s event, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times
Trump’s tumultuous first year in office was marked by controversy.
Similarly, a good amount of House Democrats boycotted the President’s first joint address to Congress last year.
Typically, lawmakers of both parties attend the annual State of the Union address, and those from the opposite party tend to save their criticisms of the President for after the speech, releasing statements about the policy pronouncements they disagree with immediately after the address wraps up.