State of the Union: The Democratic boycott list grows

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Plagued by historically low public approval numbers and the firestorm of the Russia probe, President Donald Trump will look to celebrate his successes and reset his term Tuesday night with his first official State of the Union address. (Jan. 29)
AP

A growing number of Democrats say they plan to boycott President Trump’s first State of the Union address.

The members are citing objections to Trump’s rhetoric and politics, with several pointing specifically to reports this month that Trump questioned why the U.S. accepts so many immigrants from “s—hole countries” in Africa and said the U.S. didn’t need more people from Haiti.

While more than 60 Democrats skipped Trump’s inauguration, most will attend the address on Tuesday, using the event and their guest selections to highlight concerns about immigration, health, gun violence prevention and sexual misconduct.

Jonathan Turley, the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University, argued that boycotting misses the point of the State of the Union and the role played by Congress.

“When we are deeply divided, the value of coming together for these events is more, not less, important,” he wrote in an op-ed for The Hill. “With our politicians unable to pass a budget to fund our government beyond the first week of February, this is the (worst) time for members to stomp off in a puerile fit. A president is coming to Congress on Jan. 30, and members should be there to greet him.”

Here is a list of Democrats saying they won’t attend:

Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon

Blumenauer, the first to announce he will not attend, said he will be in Oregon listening to constituents rather than “listening to yet another destructive and divisive speech by Trump.” He later announced on Facebook that he’ll send an Oregon “DREAMer” — undocumented immigrants brought here as children — in his place, “to remind Trump that these are real people with families and jobs, who are vital to our communities. They deserve certainty and protection.”

Rep. John Lewis of Georgia

The civil rights icon, who marched with The Rev. Martin Luther King, announced he wouldn’t attend the speech on MSNBC after reports of Trump’s “s—hole” comments. Lewis called the statements “unreal” and later said, “I cannot, in all the conscience, be in a room with what he has said about so many Americans. I just cannot do it. I wouldn’t be honest with myself.”

Last year, Lewis said he wouldn’t attend Trump’s inauguration because he didn’t consider Trump a “legitimate president.” Trump responded by tweeting that the congressman was “all talk, talk, talk – no action or results.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington

The first-term congresswoman said she refuses “to dignify a president who has used the platform of the Oval Office to fan the flames of racism, sexism and hatred — most recently with his vulgar condemnation of Haiti and other African countries.”

 

Rep. Barbara Lee of California

KQED News reported that Lee decided she would skip the address even before reports of Trump’s remarks about African nations.

Rep. Maxine Waters of California

Waters, an outspoken critic of Trump’s, said on MSNBC, “I don’t trust him, I don’t appreciate him and I wouldn’t waste my time sitting in that House listening to what he has to say. He does not deserve my attention.”

Rep. Frederica Wilson of Florida

 

Wilson told CNN that “to go would be to honor the President and I don’t think he deserves to be honored at this time, after being so hateful towards black people and then black countries, Haiti and the whole continent of Africa. It hurts.”

Wilson and Trump tangled publicly in October when Wilson said Trump told the widow of a U.S. service member killed in Niger that  “he knew what he signed up for.” Trump denied the claim.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois

Schakowsky told the Chicago Sun-Times her reasons for skipping the speech include Trump’s so-called “Muslim travel ban,” his failure to denounce Nazis after violence in Charlottesville and his language during the immigration discussion. 

Gregory Meeks of New York

“I cannot give this man, who does not respect me, the respect to be in that audience,” Meeks said on MSNBC.

Rep. Albio Sires of New Jersey

“The congressman is not attending the State of the Union because many of his constituents are offended by the president’s rhetoric and behavior,” Sires spokeswoman Erica Daughtrey told N.J. Advance Media.

Rep. Bobby Rush of Illinois

“We are watching the presidency erode before our eyes and I, for one, refuse to participate in pomp and circumstance that does nothing but normalize his egregious and hateful behavior,” Rush said in a statement.  “This is a presidency that has been built on racism, stupidity, and lies, which has already wasted enough of America’s time and I will not waste any more of mine.”

Also not attending

Reps. Juan Vargas of California and Danny Davis of Illinois, according to news reports.

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