Washington ― At least two Michigan Democrats skipped President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night ― Sen. Gary Peters and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell.
Dingell of Ann Arbor said she would still watch “every second” of the Republican president’s speech.
“I just didn’t want to be part of the drama,” Dingell told The Detroit News. “I want to listen and have a real dialogue about what he says.”
Peters also didn’t attend the State of the Union last year. His office said the senator believes Trump’s address will “unfortunately not provide a truthful or productive vision to help address the problems facing our communities.”
The Bloomfield Township lawmaker, who is not seeking reelection, later criticized the speech after Trump finished delivering his remarks.
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“Instead of calling for unity to make progress on the issues we all face as Americans, President Trump used his address to the nation to air out his personal grievances and attack those who are working to hold him accountable,” Peters wrote on social media.
“Whether it’s raising costs or violating our laws, Michiganders are tired of the chaos that the President is bringing to their everyday life. Unfortunately, tonight’s speech was simply an extension of what we’ve come to expect from President Trump,” he added.
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Other Michigan Democrats were inside the House chamber for the annual address, including Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who wore a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf and a pin reading, “F— ICE” in reference to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
At one point, she was yelling at Trump from the audience that he is killing U.S. citizens, as the president criticized Democrats for blocking funding for the Department of Homeland Security, the agency that houses ICE.
U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, was spotted sitting next to Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly. She and Kelly were among six Democratic lawmakers the Trump administration investigated and unsuccessfully attempted to indict over a video urging members of the military not to comply with unlawful orders.
The freshman senator has vowed to “stay on offense” after the indictment attempt, characterizing the episode as an instance of Trump trying to weaponize the Justice Department against his political foes.
Despite that conflict with the president, Slotkin still opted to attend and brought Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield to the speech as her guest.
“I felt it was important as Michigan’s senator to go,” Slotkin told The Detroit News in an interview ahead of the speech. “I was elected on the same ballot as Donald Trump, and as much as I have fundamental problems with many things that he’s doing, this is an American tradition, and I’m an American senator.”
Asked to assess how Trump’s leadership is helping or hurting Michigan, Slotkin criticized the president’s inability to bring down the cost of living, his “sloppy, back-and-forth tariffs” affecting the state’s farmers and manufacturers, and his “unnecessary” fight with Canada over the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge.
“There’s no doubt about it that turning the ship of the economy is hard,” she said, recalling difficulties the Biden administration faced.
“But here’s the difference: Donald Trump has been bold and declared emergencies, like, over a dozen times in the past year. He’s declared an emergency against Canada, but he hasn’t declared a housing emergency. He hasn’t put the same bold energy into attacking costs the way he spent time attacking his political enemies.”
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Reps. Haley Stevens of Birmingham and Hillary Scholten of Grand Rapids sat together. Rep. Shri Thanedar of Detroit also planned to attend, his office said.
Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Bay City, said earlier Tuesday that she was looking forward to hearing Trump address affordability issues for Americans struggling with high costs.
“I’m going into the chamber to listen to the speech with open ears about ways we can partner to actually deliver for these American families,” McDonald Rivet said.
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