Who's missing Donald Trump's State of the Union address?
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg won't be attending the State of the Union speech Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. She has not said she's boycotting Donald Trump's speech, but she will be out of town on a stop on a speaking tour in Rhode Island that evening.
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Ginsburg is one of several people who usually attend the address but who will not be this year. At least nine Democratic lawmakers will not be in the audience. Each of these lawmakers is explicitly boycotting President Trump:
Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon
In keeping with the attention focused on immigration and the plight of the Dreamers, Blumenauer is sending a DACA recipient in his stead Tuesday. "I am delighted to send Aldo Solano to attend Trump's State of the Union address in my place," Blumenauer tweeted. "Trump's disastrous policies have destroyed lives and impact real people who call our country home. We can't let Aldo down."
KPTV of Portland, Oregon, reports that Solano is a Portland State University student and activist. Blumenauer will be in Oregon during the president's address. He also skipped Mr. Trump's inauguration last year.
Maxine Waters, D-California
"I don't trust him, I don't appreciate him and I wouldn't waste my time...listening to what he has to say," she said of President Trump to Joy Reid, who was filling in for MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes on "All in with Chris Hayes" Friday night. "He does not deserve my attention."
Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington
On Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, Jayapal posted a video on Twitter saying, "I will not be going to the State of the Union. I think it is absolutely unacceptable to see the racism and the hatred coming out of the White House and the way this president is fueling the flames of divisiveness across our country, demeaning entire countries ..."
She went on to say that she and other members who are not attending would have their own state of the union to talk about their opposition to Mr. Trump's racist policies.
Frederica Wilson, D-Florida
Wilson told CNN's Poppy Harlow, "I'm not going because 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." Earlier this month, Mr. Trump, in discussing an immigration deal with Sen. Dick Durbin, referred to some African nations as "sh*thole countries."
"It hurts and he has brought the White House to the lowest -- and I don't think he needs to be honored with my presence." She said she would watch the State of the Union with local families in her district. "We will be watching the State of the Union, but I will not enter the chamber." Last year, she and the White House had a dispute when Wilson said that the president had told the widow of a slain U.S. serviceman that "he knew what he signed up for, but I guess it still hurt."
John Lewis, D-Georgia
After President Trump's remark about the "sh*thole" countries, Lewis told MSNBC's Katy Tur earlier this month, "At this junction, I do not plan to attend the State of the Union."
"I cannot in all good conscience be in a room with what he has said about so many Americans," he explained. "I just cannot do it. I wouldn't be honest with myself."
Bobby Rush, D-Illinois
The Illinois congressman released a statement Monday explaining why he would not be attending Mr. Trump's address:
"This has been the most chaotic, divisive, and incompetent first year of any administration and I will not sit and watch as Trump pretends that he's off to a successful start. He's not. Trump does not respect the office, our long standing institutions, traditions, and many of our citizens, who he has repeatedly insulted. 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. 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."
Jan Schakowsky, D-Illinois
Schakowsky, like Rush, also issued a statement on her plan to boycott the State of the Union, saying that she refuses "to normalize" Mr. Trump and his "loathsome language and actions."
"Time and time again he has sown division and hatred time and time again," she wrote, adding, "I refuse to sit on the floor of the House of Representatives and politely clap for a man who has demonstrated such clear contempt for so many segments of the American population."
Danny Davis, D-Illinois
Davis released a lengthy statement that cited "the escalating racist, chauvinistic, jingoistic, divisive rhetoric and actions of the President" for his inability to "in good conscience stand silently by and watch generations of struggle for equal rights, for civil, human and voting rights, for the rights of women, for social and economic justice be undone from the highest office in the land."
He will be in Chicago meeting with constituents from the 7th Congressional District.
Albio Sires, D-New Jersey
Sires, who is Cuban, is another Democrat who won't be around for the president's speech, NJ.com reports.
"The congressman is not attending the State of the Union because many of his constituents are offended by the president's rhetoric and behavior," said Erica Daughtrey, a spokeswoman for Sires told NJ.com.
