Democrats Are Refusing To Attend President Trump's State of the Union

Donald Trump’s 2026 State of the Union address is set for the night of February 24, and for the man who cares so much about viewership and crowds, it’ll may look a lot less crowded.

But that joint session of Congress is poised to look a little lighter because a group of Democrats is refusing to attend. 

So far, the list of senators skipping out, and instead attending a rally on the National Mall dubbed the “People’s State of the Union,” includes:

• Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts
• Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon
• Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut
• Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota
• Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland
• Representative Yassamin Ansari of Arizona
• Representative Becca Balint of Vermont
• Representative Greg Casar of Texas
• Representative Veronica Escobar of Texas
• Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington
• Representative Delia Ramirez of Illinois
• Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey

Retweeting the New York Times’ article about the protest, Senator Van Hollen added, “Next week, Trump will deliver his State of the Union address. I won’t be there. Trump is marching America towards fascism, and I refuse to normalize his shredding of our Constitution & democracy.”

He continued, “This cannot be business as usual.”

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson spoke to Newsweek about the Democrats’ absence, chalk it up to them not wanting to recognize all the good the Republicans have done.

“Every Democrat in Congress tried to pass a $4 trillion dollar tax hike and voted against the working and middle class tax cuts the American people are seeing right now in their refunds,” Jackson said. “Democrats all voted against securing the border and deporting criminal illegals. Democrats all voted against modernizing our military. It’s not a surprise that they refuse to celebrate and honor the Americans who have benefited from the common-sense policies Republicans have governed with.”

While such events are typically attended by members of both Parties, the divisiveness has been palpable since Trump entered the political ring, leading to Democrats even skipping both of his inaugurations.

Stephen A. Smith also addressed the walkout and doesn’t agree with it.

“If you’re going to act as juvenile as, as petchulent, as petty, as you accuse the president of the United States to be, how are you going to hold a high enough moral ground to judge him accordingly?

See social media’s reactions to democrats taking a stand and more about the rally on the National Mall below.