Only two members of Vermont’s three-person congressional delegation will be in the audience for President Donald Trump’s joint congressional address Tuesday night, the first of his second term.
U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt, announced in a statement Tuesday morning that she will forgo the speech in favor of participating in a parallel online event, saying Trump has “spewed lies, stoked division and fear and made no effort to unify our country.”
The address to Congress will take place at 9 p.m., the same day Trump’s 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico took effect. The president is expected to discuss the tariffs as well as other topics. The tariffs on imports from two of the U.S.’s closest trade partners could effectively spark a trade war between the countries.
Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt, and Peter Welch, D-Vt, confirmed their attendance, though each planned another way to send a message about their concerns with Trump’s actions since taking office.
While Balint has planned a “pre-rebuttal” streamed from her Youtube channel starting at 8:15 p.m., Sanders said he will deliver his response livestreamed on YouTube and on several social media platforms after Trump’s speech concludes.
Meanwhile, Welch plans to bring Allison Hope, Executive Director of the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers’ Association with him to the speech in the U.S. House chamber. Hope was one of a dozen guests who spoke at a press event held by Senate Democrats in the capitol Tuesday afternoon.
After noting that Vermont’s sugarmakers have increased production roughly 500% in recent years, Hope said the 25% tariffs Trump imposed early that morning “will have a staggering effect on Vermont’s (maple) producers.”
“Our Canadian counterparts are a huge part of our trade,” Hope added. The result of increasing the price of Canadian maple syrup is likely to be “a potential stagnation of production in Vermont and also a loss of potential shelf space at a time when it’s really hard and really expensive to get it back,” she said.
Other speakers included federal employees suddenly let go from the U.S. Forest Service in Colorado and National Park Service in Virginia as well as the leader of Head Start early childhood programs in Illinois and the leader of a food bank in New Mexico who talked about the impacts of the federal funding freeze on their organizations.
“President Trump is singlehandedly raising costs for Vermonters—from the food on our table, to our energy bills, to the materials and equipment our home construction companies and manufacturers need,” Welch said in a statement Tuesday. “It’s important that the Trump Administration and my colleagues across the aisle hear directly from those who are impacted and that they drop this misguided plan.”
In a statement released later on Tuesday, Welch added, “I hope to hear tonight about how President Trump plans to lower grocery and health care costs for families, create jobs, and support working families—plans that he forgot to include in his inaugural address.”
Balint is expected to join other Democratic lawmakers and the political organizing group Moveon.org in providing “real-time fact-checking, a Democratic rebuttal, and live reactions” to the speech.
“I watched as the President swore an oath to uphold and protect the constitution. I won’t sit and watch him lie to the American people again,” said Balint in the statement announcing her decision. “I attended the inauguration because I believe in the peaceful transfer of power, but Trump spewed lies, stoked division and fear and made no effort to unify our country. There is no doubt tonight’s presidential address will be more of the same.”
“My conversation tonight will be the best way I can use my voice for Vermonters,” she added. “They are sick of the lies and Trump’s complete and utter disregard for our constitution.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont delegation split on attending Trump’s address to Congress .