President Trump will deliver a State of the Union address Tuesday, and the Democratic responses will come from a variety of crying sources
Oh, ain’t that special?! Well, I’ve gotta question about this:
WASHINGTON — Democrats announced last week that Rep. Joe Kennedy III, the fresh-faced 37-year-old grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, would give their party’s formal response to President Trump’s first State of the Union address Tuesday night.
But his speech, which will air on major networks such as CBS, ABC and NBC, will not be the only voice offering a Democratic response.
Resistance groups that formed in response to the 2016 elections, longtime Washington advocacy institutions, activist celebrities and even another member of Congress are all planning to talk back to the president before and after the State of the Union address. The Democrats’ Spanish-language response will be given by Elizabeth Guzman, who was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in November amid Democrats’ surprisingly strong showing in the off-year down-ballot elections in the state. These events have the potential not only to amplify and expand on whatever Kennedy has to say and raise the profiles of a diverse group of movement leaders, but also to potentially complicate or distract from the party’s central message.
The night before Trump speaks to Congress and the nation, an array of celebrities — including Mark Ruffalo, Cynthia Nixon, Michael Moore and Lee Daniels — will be appear at an evening billed as the People’s State of the Union at the Town Hall theater in Manhattan. The event will be streamed live on Facebook. Backed by the activist groups MoveOn.org Political Action and Sean Eldridge’s Stand Up America, it will be the launch event for a new group, We Stand United, that grew out of pre-inauguration protest against Trump in New York last year.
On Tuesday night in Washington, there will be a protest along Trump’s State of the Union motorcade route. A grassroots social media effort launched in mid-January has been urging liberals to deprive the ratings-conscious president of high TV numbers by using the hashtag #SOTUblackout. “Watch SOTU online after it airs via YouTube, MSNBC, or CNN. Don’t DVR or watch it live,” tweeted one early proponent of the idea. It is unclear how this would work in practice, because audience estimates are compiled by Nielsen Media Research based on a small sample of households, numbering in the thousands. For the rest of the country, a decision to watch or not will not affect the ratings.
After the speech Tuesday night, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., who has repeatedly called for the president to be impeached, will address the nation on a special report on BET. Jimmy Kimmel — one of the most vigorous television critics of the president for Trump’s efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act — also will interview porn star and alleged former Trump mistress Stormy Daniels on his late-night show. Alyssa Milano, who helped popularize the #MeToo hashtag, is asking followers to share short videos and tweets “describing yourdream for America” along with the hashtag #StateOfTheDream to show their support for the young immigrants covered by DACA and the advocacy group United We Dream.
A grassroots group of activists will live-stream a collection of responses to the president on NowThisNews, using the hashtag #PeoplesSOTUResponse. Activist Brittany Packnett will host the event, which will feature appearances by more than a dozen leaders of liberal groups, including the Human Rights Campaign, the abortion-rights group NARAL, the immigrants rights group United We Dream and Run for Something, an organization that enlists young progressives to run for office.
Widget not in any sidebars
The live-streamed “People’s SOTU Response” Tuesday — not to be confused with the People’s State of the Union Monday in New York — grew out of a Twitter conversation between activists who launched a petition demanding that the anti-Trump resistance be given airtime on CNN for a State of the Union response. The petition was the brainchild of Shannon Watts, the founder of gun control group Moms Demand Action and board chair of Rise to Run, which trains young women to run for office.
My question is where are the American Patriots that voted in President Trump? Where are your voices? Your job is NOT simply over just because your man won. Don’t let these sniveling little crybabies keep over powering your vote. Get to work patriots, get to work. The job is NOT done.