Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was undecided Tuesday morning about whether she’ll attend President Trump’s State of the Union speech.
Hours before Trump was set to address a joint session of Congress, the progressive Bronx/Queens lawmaker said she is considering skipping the speech to avoid “legitimizing” him by showing up.
“Trump relies on spectacle (and) I feel uncomfortable legitimizing a lot of what he’s doing with my presence,” Ocasio-Cortez told CNN.
“I can easily catch up on his remarks and watch them from home,” she added. “I just don’t know if it’s worth it.”
A handful of Democrats, including Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington) have already announced they will stay away from the Trump speech.
But most Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, will attend.
Some Democrats were considering walkouts or other disruptions if and when Trump makes provocative claims. But party leaders are urging rank-and-file lawmakers to keep any protests dignified and to avoid bringing signs or props.
Many Democrats plan to invite as guests government workers laid off by Trump to spotlight the pain they say his policies and the drastic cuts implemented by billionaire Elon Musk are inflicting on the American people.
Schumer plans to invite a fired Veterans Administration worker from Buffalo, an upstate Department of Agriculture worker who was laid off and two New Yorkers who depend on Medicaid, which faces potential deep cuts as Republicans seek to slash the federal budget.
“The New Yorkers that will accompany me … show the real and devastating human impact of Trump’s cruel and shortsighted policies and the destructive cuts,” Schumer said.
Other Democrats are inviting California firefighters who battled the recent Los Angeles wildfires to spotlight Trump’s reluctance to provide disaster assistance.
Republican lawmakers planned to counter with guests to dramatize support for Trump’s ban on transgender people competing in women’s and girls’ sports as well as his crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
First Lady Melania Trump has invited several ordinary Americans including the family of firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was killed in the failed assassination attempt on Trump last summer in Butler, Pennsylvania.
