Democrats sat mostly silent through President Donald Trump’s aggressive and partisan 90-minute speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday, but they had plenty to say about the president and his address afterward.
“Tonight was another chapter in Donald Trump’s great betrayal of the American people, with lies, lies and more lies – but no plan to lower costs for working families,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said in a statement immediately following Trump’s speech.
“I’ll continue to stand up and speak out against his attacks and lies, and we will keep fighting back in Congress, in the courts, and in our communities,” Van Hollen said.
Maryland’s sole congressional Republican, 1st District Rep. Andy Harris, had the opposite reaction, calling the address “a consequential speech of optimism.”
“Under President Trump, the United States is leading, and Congress must join forces with the President to deliver on the America First agenda,” Harris said on X.
The stark divide between Harris and the rest of his state’s delegation was reflected in the larger divide in the House chamber. Republicans on one side jumped to their feet and applauded Trump at every pause, as Democrats on the other largely sat stone-faced and silent, with some holding up small signs that said “false,” “Save Medicaid” and “Musk steals.”
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Democrats sat even when goaded by Trump, who ridiculed former President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris by name and said to the Republican side of the room that “these people,” as he called the Democrats, would not applaud no matter what he did.
There were a few exceptions, most notably Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), wbo stood and began shouting at Trump early in the speech. House Speaker Mike Johnson chided him before calling the sergeant-at-arms to escort Green from the chamber.
Several Democrats either turned their back on Trump, some wearing shirts that read “resist,” or walked out of Trump’s address entirely. Van Hollen and 8th District Rep. Jamie Raskin were among the Democrats who walked out of the chamber as the speech ran well past the hour mark.
Van Hollen, after departing, said on X that he “had enough.”
Raskin was active on X throughout Trump’s address, both on his personal and congressional accounts. At one point, Raskin called Trump “that felon President” while taking aim at his Jan. 6 pardons.
When Trump concluded his remarks, Democrats immediately fled for the exits as Republicans and their guests coalesced around the President, calling his speech the “best ever” and thanking him for mentioning a variety of topics.
While presidential speeches are typically lofty statements of ideals, Trump’s was uniquely Trump: partisan, combative and self-congratulatory, sounding at times more like a campaign stump speech than an address to Congress.
As he did in towns across the country, Trump described a vision of a largely isolationist America, driven by a recommitment to the military, a renegotiation of or complete withdrawal from countless international agreements and trade alliances, an overhaul of immigration policy and the elimination of “wokeness” from American culture.
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Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-3rd) took issue with the divisiveness of Trump’s speech.
“I was frankly astonished at the partisanship – the lack of attempt to find common ground, not just common ground with Democrats in Congress, but frankly common ground with the American people,” Elfreth said in a statement.
But it was clear from the opening minutes of Trump’s remarks that he was unconcerned with bipartisanship.
He trumpeted a list of actions that align with that vision. These included ending Biden-era climate policies, creating the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, treminatingthe termination of diversity, equity and inclusion practices and removing transgender women from women’s sports.
Trump, who began and ended his speech by declaring “America is back,” called his agenda a “common-sense revolution.” Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-6th) disagreed.
“So far, I have seen neither common ground nor common sense,” McClain Delaney said in a statement following the address. “Rather, President Trump’s term has been marked by confusion and chaos in our communities.”
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-5th), the longest-tenured member of Maryland’s congressional delegation, struck a similar chord.
“The state of our union and our economy grows weaker every day that Donald Trump continues on his current course,” Hoyer said in a statement.
Maryland Matters is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org.