Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and at least seven other Democrats have announced they will be boycotting President Trump's 2020 State of the Union address on Tuesday evening. It also happens to be the eve of an expected Senate vote in his impeachment trial.
On Tuesday, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, "After much deliberation, I have decided that I will not use my presence at a state ceremony to normalize Trump’s lawless conduct & subversion of the Constitution. None of this is normal, and I will not legitimize it."
Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Ocasio-Cortez's fellow "Squad" member, also announced she would be skipping the ceremony, calling it a "sham."
Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA), tweeted a strong message ahead of the night, writing, "To think that I would attend the #SOTU to hear the message of an IMPEACHED president is a thought that in no way would be consistent w/ my fight and struggle against this dishonorable president. I will certainly NOT be there!"
They will be joined by Reps. Al Green (D-TX), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) , Hank Johnson (D-GA) and Frederica Wilson (D-FL) in opting out of this year's address, according to The Hill. Last year, at least six Democrats boycotted the State of the Union, and the year prior, a total of 14 Democrats skipped the ceremony.
Tuesday will be the first time that Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Trump will have spoken in person since an October meeting on Syria, in which she walked out after a confrontation with the president.
"I think that we have pulled back a veil of behavior totally unacceptable to our founders, and that the public will see this with a clearer eye, an unblurred eye," she told New York Times on Monday. "Whatever happens, he has been impeached forever. And now these senators, though they don’t have the courage to assign the appropriate penalty, at least are recognizing that he did something wrong."
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