The Congressional Black Caucus is not here for President Donald Trump and the organization is thinking about not showing up for his State of the Union Address. CBC Chairman Cedric Richmond (D-La.) recently said the group is considering a boycott or demonstration during the Trump's address to Congress at the end of the month, according to The Hill.
"We will decide in that meeting and discuss how we want to respond to the president's State of the Union. We could go, we could go and walk out, we could go and hold up fists … or we could not go, or we could hold our own State of the Union," Richmond told BuzzFeed News's "AM to DM."
Trump has received backlash in recent days after he reportedly called Haiti, El Salvador and various African nations "sh*thole countries."
Because of these comments and a number of other moves made by the Trump administration during Trump's first year in office, various congressional Democrats, including CBC members, have announced that they don't plan to attend the president's State of the Union address. Civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) have all said they won't be attending the address.
On Monday, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) joined this group, becoming the fifth Democrat to announce she wouldn't attend Trump's speech, saying the president was "fueling the flames of divisiveness across our country."
"So there's a million options we could do, but I think the most important part is to let people out there know that we're still here, we're still fighting, we really don't care what he thinks about us," Richmond said.
Richmond and the CBC also recently introduced a resolution to censure Trump over his racist remarks, according to POLITICO. At a news conference announcing the resolution, Richmond was joined by House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and other Democrats, where he said Trump’s controversial comments “should have never been made” and “were factually inaccurate.”
Richmond explained that House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) would have to agree to take up the resolution in order for the chamber to vote. If Ryan doesn't agree, Richmond said they will find another way.
“If he doesn’t, then we will look at other ways to force a vote on it,” Richmond told reporters. “But the truth of the matter is the speaker should bring it up. Because if he doesn’t, then he is enabling and continuing to allow the president to perpetuate this hateful rhetoric, and at some point — whether you agree or disagree — I think it’s the speaker’s obligation to protect the dignity of the House.”
