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Schakowsky to boycott State of the Union Address

January 26, 2018

Today, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, a Chief Deputy Whip, released the following statement after announcing her plans to boycott President Trump’s upcoming State of the Union address:

“I will be boycotting President Trump’s State of the Union this year because I refuse to normalize President Donald Trump and his loathsome language and actions. The American people have been subjected to a year of racist, erratic, and divisive behavior from their Commander in Chief, and I refuse to accept that as the new normal.

“With every day that passes, a new tweet, breaking news story, or leaked quote sheds new light on President Trump’s twisted and prejudiced mind. From calling for an illegal ban of Muslims during the first week of his Presidency (and on Holocaust Remembrance Day) and refusing to condemn Nazis and White Supremacists in Charlottesville, to referring to Haiti and African nations as ‘sh*tholes’, President Trump has completely disrespected millions of patriotic Americans and the office of the Presidency. Time and time again he has sown division and hatred time and time again. We can’t treat this as normal. I refuse to sit on the floor of the House of Representatives and politely clap for a man who has demonstrated such clear contempt for so many segments of the American population.

“My constituents have spoken loud and clear: they’ve told me that they don’t want their Member of Congress acting as if this is just another Republican Administration. They’ve asked me to resist and they’ve asked me to boycott.”

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