Mike Johnson Slams ‘Shameful’ Democrats for Boycotting Trump’s State of the Union: ‘Republicans Don’t Do That’

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) shamed Democrats planning to skip President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, declaring that Republicans “don’t do that.”

At a Tuesday press conference ahead of Trump’s 9 p.m. ET address, Johnson called it “shameful” that Democrats would boycott the address and attend simultaneous events.

He said:

This evening, the entire country will hear an update on the full scope of President Trump’s transformational and historic first year back in office. The results speak for themselves. Why does he have so much to talk about? Because inflation’s down, wages are up. Investment is booming. The GDP is exceeding every expectation. Democrats, meanwhile, are going to host, count them, five separate counter-events, rallies of some sort, they call them, in lieu of tonight’s address. For all of these theatrics, it doesn’t matter how many little gatherings they have or where they stand or how high the volume is on the microphones, they have nothing to offer. Nothing but their TDS agenda, the Trump Derangement Syndrome, and it’s on full display.

Johnson claimed Democrats are opposing Trump’s agenda, like “basic immigration enforcement,” solely for the “sake of obstruction.”

Republicans, he further claimed, do not engage in boycotts of State of the Union addresses.

Johnson said:

It’s the same tired playbook that they’ve run for a decade now. It’s shameful that they would boycott an address. We don’t do that. Republicans don’t that. Doesn’t matter if there’s a president from the opposing party. We don’t skip out. Our constituents want and need us to be here. Every member of this House represents over 750,000 people. They’re disenfranchised if you’re not sitting in the seat to be a part of the role and the responsibility of Congress. I think it’s shameful.

There have been instances of Republican lawmakers boycotting State of the Union addresses. A handful of House Republicans skipped out on former President Bill Clinton’s SOTU speech in 1999. At the time, he had been impeached by the House and his Senate impeachment trial was underway. Former Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) also announced in 2012 he was not attending former President Barack Obama’s address to the nation.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has advised Democrats to either attend Trump’s address in “silent defiance” and not cause a scene or send a message by not attending at all.

Dozens of Democrats have already announced plans to either stay home or attend an alternative event to tonight’s State of the Union.

An event dubbed the “People’s State of the Union” is being held near the National Mall, put on by liberal groups MeidasTouch and MoveOn Civic Action, and will have plenty of Democrats in attendance, including Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Adam Schiff (D-CA). All in all, more than two dozen Democrat lawmakers will be attending.

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Some have also decided to simply stay home, like Sens. Ruben Gallego, (D-AZ), and Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME). Others, like Reps. Jason Crow (D-CO), Seth Moulton (D-MA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR), will be attending the “State of the Swamp,” put on by Defiance.org and others, event at the National Press Club.

Watch above via CSPAN.

The post Mike Johnson Slams ‘Shameful’ Democrats for Boycotting Trump’s State of the Union: ‘Republicans Don’t Do That’ first appeared on Mediaite.