If the thought of spending your Tuesday evening listening to the deceitful blathering of a man whose own cabinet has been known to call him “a f@#kin moron” doesn’t sound the least bit appealing to you, worry not, you are not alone.
A number of Democratic legislators in the House of Representatives have reached the same conclusion, as 14 of their members did during last year’s address, according to a report today at The Hill.
Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) was one of the representatives who sat out Trump’s speech last year and has no intention of attending tomorrow’s barrage of bull turds either.
“The thought of spending Tuesday night in the House Chamber listening to the reckless, self-centered man who occupies the White House holds no interest for me. Just like in past years, I plan to skip a speech that will be filled with lies, deception and divisiveness,” Blumenauer explained in a statement about his non-attendance.
“The amount of damage, division and confusion Trump has inflicted on the American people over the last six weeks has been a blemish on the new Congress and I refuse to be witness to his continued antics,” he added.
Even though he won’t be attending himself, Rep. Blumenauer did extend an invitation to the executive director of the World Central Kitchen, Nate Mook, to attend as his guest. Founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres, World Central Kitchen has become known for providing meals to hurricane victims as well as to federal workers furloughed during the recent partial government shutdown.
Another Democrat declining to attend the president’s speech is Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) who has been quite vocal in the past about the need to impeach Trump.
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
“I will not attend the State of the Union once again this year. I’ll come to the House Chamber for the State of the Union the next time I can hear from a president who will tell the truth about the State of the Union,” Cohen told The Hill.
Also not returning their RSVPs to the State of The Union are two Georgia Democratic Congressmen, Representative John Lewis — who also boycotted last year’s speech— and Representative Hank Johnson.
“I have a problem with defiling the speaker’s chair in the House of Representatives,” Johnson said to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I don’t want to see it lowered, as is what happens when Donald Trump comes to our floor and starts talking about groups of people, particularly Latinos, and disparaging them as a people.”
“I’d rather be somewhere else,” Johnson added.
While so far, fewer congressional Democrats plan to boycott the speech than last year, the new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives may be the primary reason that more party members plan to attend the State of the Union this year. There is no word yet on whether any of them will have the temerity to interrupt the president’s speech to call him a liar as South Carolina Republican Congressman Joe Wilson did during President Obama’s 2009 address on health care before a joint session of Congress.
Sponsored Links
If anyone does rise to the occasion tomorrow night, it will certainly be justified, as The Washington Post’s newly updated tally of Trump’s mendacity proves. The latest count as of February 3rd, 745 days into Trump’s presidency, stands at 8,459 false or misleading claims. After tomorrow’s State of the Union, you can make a pretty safe bet that the president will be able to easily lift his count past the 9000 mark, judging by the increasing speed with which his lies have accelerated in recent months.
Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter.
Original reporting by Cristina Marcos at The Hill.
