Democratic Sen. John Fetterman (Pa.) came out against his party’s members planning to skip or protest President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address next week, stating that they “really need to respect the office.”
“I just hope they don’t do the kinds of things that some did last year,” Fetterman told Fox News’ Jesse Watters Thursday. “I mean, there’s just no dignity if you have paddles, or if you are yelling and saying those kinds of things.”
Politico reports that at least a dozen Democrats are planning to skip Trump’s State of the Union address and instead have their own counterprogramming at the National Mall during that time. They call the event the “People’s State of the Union.”
“These aren’t normal times and showing up for this speech puts a veneer of legitimacy on the corruption and lawlessness that has defined his second term,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said in a statement shared with the outlet.
Among other Democrats planning to attend the counterprogramming hosted by left-leaning groups MoveOn and MeidasTouch are Sens. Ed Markey (Mass.) and Chris Van Hollen (Md.) and Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.).
Fetterman, who is no stranger to criticizing his party, told Watters “you can agree or disagree on things, but if you are going to show up, just do it with dignity because you really need to respect the office.”
“And now they are doing like, a counterprogramming, and that’s never going to go well,” Fetterman said. “I mean, it’s like, regardless who the president is, you know, the counter never really lands, and it really kind of just doesn’t compare.”
