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.
Michael Ahrens, Republican National Committee spokesman, said boycotting politicians “clearly don’t realize that it’s not about them, it’s about the citizens they were elected to represent.
"By refusing to attend a joint session of Congress, they’re failing to do their jobs and robbing their constituents of the representation they deserve,” Ahrens said.
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.”
But it doesn't. Here is why. https://t.co/XvUlUHdgmX
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) January 17, 2018Rep. Barbara Lee of California
"I will not attend this State of the Union because this president has not honored nor respected the office of the presidency and has shown a total disregard for our democratic institutions," she said in a statement.
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.
Rep. 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, Danny Davis of Illinois and Steve Cohen of Tennessee, according to news reports.
