Dozens of Democratic lawmakers are skipping, staging walkouts, or planning counter-events to protest President Donald Trump's State of the Union address on Tuesday (February 24), drawing sharp attention to a party divided over how best to respond to the administration.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) has advised members of his caucus to choose one of two paths: attend the address in "silent defiance" or take part in alternative programming around the Capitol complex. Jeffries himself plans to attend. "My current plan is to attend. We're not going to Donald Trump's house. He's coming to our house. It's my view that you don't let anyone, ever, run you off of your block," he said.
Gary Hoffman thinks that the Democratic lawmakers should attend the speech because they owe it their constituents.
"If you're a member of congress, if you're there to represent people in your district, kinda feel like you owe it to them to be there."