Democratic U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, who plans to boycott President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress, speaks at the Colorado Democratic Party watch party on Nov. 5, 2024. (Andrew Fraieli for Colorado Newsline)
U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette decided not to attend President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress Tuesday night.
“Trump’s childish and shameful actions in the Oval Office towards Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as his barrage of illegal attacks against public servants and vulnerable groups, have disgraced and embarrassed our country,” DeGette said in a statement. “His actions are beneath the office of the President and do not merit my attendance at this Joint Address.”
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The Denver Democrat will watch the address remotely. She said Trump undermines democracy and ignores “his promise to lower costs and make life better” for Americans. DeGette’s office has fielded calls daily from constituents frustrated that Trump and Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and a Trump megadonor and adviser, have “made life worse.”
“His extreme actions, including his reckless disregard for the rule of law, are an insult to my constituents and the American people,” she said. “They deserve so much more than his hateful rhetoric, blatant lies, and lack of meaningful progress on improving their quality of life.”
A growing list of other Democrats in Congress have expressed their intentions to skip the speech for various reasons. U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, a Lakewood Democrat, will watch the address remotely from Colorado with her newborn, though Lakewood Mayor Wendi Strom will attend in person as Pettersen’s guest.
- Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado will bring guest Jamie Werner, a former program management specialist at the White River National Forest Supervisor’s Office in Glenwood Springs, who lost her job in February when the Trump administration terminated probationary employees.
- Democratic U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper of Colorado will bring guest Amelia Huffman, a Navy veteran and former U.S. Forest Service employee who lost her job when the Trump administration fired over 3,400 Forest Service employees in February.
- House Assistant Minority Leader Joe Neguse, a Lafayette Democrat, will attend the address with guest Mikayla Moors, a former forestry technician with the U.S. Forest Service who lost her job in the Trump administration’s latest round of mass terminations.
- U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, a Grand Junction Republican, will bring Andrei Iancu, who served as the U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property during the last Trump administration.
- U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Windsor Republican, will bring her mother, Shawna Bentz, to attend the address.
- U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank, a Colorado Springs Republican, will bring his wife, Lisa Crank, as his guest at the address.
- U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, a Centennial Democrat, will bring Rosario Morales, a program enrollment manager at STRIDE Community Health Center in Aurora who works closely with patients who would be impacted by proposed federal Medicaid cuts.
- U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans, a Fort Lupton Republican, will bring guest Liz Hardy, whose 25-year-old daughter died after taking a counterfeit pill laced with a lethal amount of fentanyl.
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