Rep. Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania is an ardent opponent of Donald Trump’s. She served as a manager for his second trial when Congress impeached him over the January 6 riot.
Nevertheless, Dean says she will be coming to listen to first Trump’s joint address to Congress since returning to the White House earlier this year. Dean – wearing white, the color of the women’s suffrage movement – said she wants to “stand up to the lies that he will tell.”
Some Democrats have made it a point to say that they will not attend Trump’s address or say they will disrupt the president’s speech. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said they will hold livestreaming town halls instead of attending.
But for some, it was important for them to bear witness to it and to show visible opposition to his policies. On Monday evening, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries sent a dear colleague letter saying that he will attend and stressing the need for a Democratic presence in the chamber.
“The decision to attend the Joint Session is a personal one and we understand that members will come to different conclusions,” he said. “However, it is important to have a strong, determined and dignified Democratic presence in the chamber. The House as an institution belongs to the American people, and as their representatives we will not be run off the block or bullied.”
Many Democrats, especially ones from swing states and districts, cited the face Trump would speak at their place of work as a reason to go.
“The president’s coming to our house,” Hillary Scholten of Michigan told The Independent. “He has taken a lot of actions that I strongly disagree with in his first term, and that impact my constituents in a negative way.”
Scholten’s fellow Michigander Haley Stevens, a potential candidate for the state’s soon-to-be-open Senate seat, said she wanted to hear what Trump would say about the tariffs he has levied against Canada, which could adversely affect Michigan.
“So I want to know what we’re doing about the tariffs on Canada that are wreaking havoc on my Michigan economy right now,” Stevens told The Independent. She also mentioned threats to veterans’ care and Social Security.
Democratic activists and constituents in nearly ever corner of the party in recent weeks have wanted to see a more robust form of resistance to Trump. But many Democrats – particularly in the House – represent states and districts that Trump also won. This is the case with Sen. Ruben Gallego, who won in Arizona the same night that Trump won the state.
“I represent the citizens of Arizona – Democrat, Republican and independents,” he told The Independent. “I’m going to see what the president has to say, to report back to them and express my personal opinion on what he ends up doing or saying.”
Like Stevens, Gallego represents a state that could be hit by tariffs, except in his case Mexico more than Canada.
“People are going to be missing mortgage payments and tuition because the president over didn’t think through all of his actions,” he said.
Other Democrats hope want to use their guests to highlight the potential harm caused by Trump’s policies.
