Democrats, turning away from State of the Union, condemn Trump over immigration and ‘lawlessness’

WASHINGTON — Some Democrats in Congress boycotted President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, opting to participate in counterprogramming to protest the administration’s actions.

Lawmakers took to alternative stages in Washington, D.C., to rebuke Trump’s lack of regard for constitutional norms, immigration enforcement tactics and his response to the affordability crisis affecting American families.

“Our democracy is withering under the relentless assault of a president who wants to be a despot,” Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said at the People’s State of the Union rally on the National Mall.

“Millions of Americans are losing their health care because the president chose corruption to line the pockets of his billionaire friends instead of helping average Americans,” said Murphy, who serves as the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee.

The rally, hosted by progressive media company MeidasTouch and progressive advocacy group MoveOn, countered the president’s address to Congress. Lawmakers brought their own guests to the event, who rejected the administration’s ongoing actions.

Also Tuesday night at the National Press Club was “State of the Swamp,” hosted by DEFIANCE.org, an anti-Trump resistance effort; the Portland Frog Brigade, a coalition of “artist-activists,” and COURIER, an advocacy media network.

The “State of the Swamp” event was attended by several Democratic lawmakers, former Trump administration officials, current and former Democratic leaders, and leading anti-government voices.

“A lawless president”

Sen. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, described the State of the Union as a “state of denial” during the event on the National Mall.

“What’s going to happen under this Capitol is a lot of lies – lies that Donald Trump and the Republicans are going to tell us about how great this country is doing right now,” he said. “But what is true, what is happening right now, is that Donald Trump and the Republicans have made this country sicker, poorer and less safe.”

Democratic lawmakers continued to criticize the administration’s immigration enforcement tactics.

That criticism grew even louder after federal agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis last month.

The Department of Homeland Security is shutting down as Congress and the administration try to find a solution to Democrats’ demands for additional restrictions on immigration enforcement following the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

“Now we know the state of our union,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland. “We know it is under attack by a lawless president who is destroying our Constitution and attacking our democracy — a president whose private army (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) executes Americans and then labels the victims domestic terrorists.”

Epstein files

Democrats also criticized the government’s handling of the deceased sex offender’s files Jeffrey Epsteinwhich was criticized for the selective distribution of the files and the massive redactions.

Several Democratic lawmakers invited Epstein survivors as guests to Trump’s State of the Union address.

“We should be aware of what is happening in our country right now,” California Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said during the rally on the National Mall.

“We have a president who is leading the largest government cover-up in modern history — we have the largest sex trafficking ring in modern history that is currently being covered up by Donald Trump and (Attorney General) Pam Bondi at the Justice Department,” Garcia said.

Trump, who appeared in several filings, had a well-documented friendship with Epstein but claimed he had feuded with the disgraced financier and was never involved in any alleged crimes.