US Rep. Valerie Foushee to boycott Trump's State of the Union address again - WRAL

U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee, a Triangle-area Democrat, said Monday that she would boycott Republican President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, saying "extreme" policies favored by Trump deepen inequality and divide Americans.

The State of the Union address, scheduled for 9 p.m. Tuesday, is expected to underscore what Trump sees as accomplishments during the first year of his second term.

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“While the president prepares to describe a vision of national strength and prosperity,” Foushee said in a statement Monday, “the real state of the union is measured by families crushed by rising costs, by attacks on voting rights and civil liberties, and by immigrant communities who are being vilified, detained and deported under policies rooted in cruelty rather than humanity.”

She alleged that the administration “continues to evade accountability, resist transparency and undermine the very checks and balances that hold our democracy together.”

The White House shot back, accusing Democrats in Congress of being weak on immigration, opposed to modernizing the military and supporting a $4 trillion dollar tax hike and voting against tax cuts that would benefit working- and middle-class families.

“It’s not a surprise that they refuse to celebrate and honor the Americans who have benefitted from the commonsense policies Republicans have governed with,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement.

Foushee represents a district including Orange and Durham counties and part of Wake. She didn’t attend last year’s State of the Union, either.

Foushee is running for reelection and has a challenger in next week’s primary election. Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam is challenging Foushee in the Democratic primary for one of the most Democratic-leaning districts in North Carolina.

“I applaud Rep. Foushee for making the right decision to boycott Trump’s SOTU,” Allam said in a statement Monday. “I look forward to her also taking a stand to boycott the donors that put him in office.”

Foushee won in 2022 after political action committees, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, poured millions of dollars into ads in support of Foushee. AIPAC has fallen out of favor with some Democrats due to its support of Israel’s war in Gaza and the group’s support of Republicans who defended the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress.

Foushee has since sworn off AIPAC. Her biggest supporters this election cycle have been PACs representing pilots, machinists, government workers, defense contractors, pharmaceutical companies and anesthesiologists.

Allam’s campaign is funded largely by small donors, but her biggest financial supporters are Durham businesswoman Rebecca Feinglos and five others from New York, California and Illinois. She also is funded by several politically progressive PACs. One of those is Leaders We Deserve, a group founded by gun control advocate David Hogg with the goal of electing young, progressive candidates.