Democratic strategists argue it would have been better for Democratic lawmakers to skip President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress than to cause disruptions, which have since reportedly caused tensions with party leadership.
“I think it would have been smarter to just boycott the speech,” Jim Manley, a Democratic political strategist, told Fox News Digital. “Showing up gave Trump legitimacy that he doesn’t deserve.”
Asked if he thought the Democrats interrupting the president’s speech was a good strategy, Andrew Bates, who served as senior White House deputy press secretary for former President Joe Biden, told Fox News Digital “no.”
“The protests preached to the choir, when we need to grow the congregation — like [Democratic Michigan Sen. Elissa] Slotkin did when she said Republicans will make you pay more “in every part of your life” in order to cut taxes for the rich,” Bates said.
DEMOCRATS PRIVATELY REBUKE PARTY MEMBERS WHO JEERED TRUMP DURING SPEECH TO CONGRESS: REPORT
Democratic House leadership is reportedly “very unhappy” with the interruptions made by lawmakers during the speech, which included yelling and holding up paddles that read “Musk steals,” and called on several of them to attend a “come to Jesus meeting” to discuss their behavior, a House Democrat told Axios.
“I didn’t think the Democratic reaction in the room went very well. It just contributed to the theatrics,” Brad Bannon, president of Bannon Communications Research, a political consulting firm, told Fox in an interview. “No one can beat Trump at theatrics. I’m sorry, I love my congressional Democrats, but when it comes to theatrics, they don’t come close.”
“It would have made more sense, in my opinion, to let Trump’s words soak in and not act as a distraction to the lies and falsehoods he told,” Bannon added. “So I don’t think the Democratic reaction in the room was good.”
One strategist shared with Fox that they saw private data demonstrating that voters did not like the protests.
FETTERMAN DISMAYED BY DEMS DISSING ‘TOUCHING MOMENT’ AT TRUMP SPEECH
Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, stood up during Trump’s address and refused to sit down, leading to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., ordering the Sergeant at Arms to remove him from the chamber.
Democratic strategist David Axelrod told Politico that Green’s protest likely “got plenty of attaboys from the base,” but didn’t resonate with most Americans.
“But with many other Americans — and not just Republicans — it was no more appealing than [GOP Reps.] Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert heckling Biden,” Axelrod said in an interview. “It’s just not particularly helpful.”
Democrats were also criticized for not standing up while the president introduced DJ Daniel, a 13-year-old cancer survivor, during the joint address.
“You know, that is a very individual thing. And aren’t there a lot of other things we can be focusing on, as I would think?” Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said when asked why Democratic members did not stand for Daniel. “The word ‘betrayal’ comes to mind with regard to the president.”
Another Democrat, Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., told Fox News Digital that it “was a moving story,” but that “what Trump left out, of course, is he’s cutting research for cancer, which is pretty, pretty bad.”
However, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., broke with his party on the issue.
“I don’t know why we can’t fully celebrate,” Fetterman told Nicholas Ballasy for Fox. “I mean, I have a 13-year-old myself, and thank God she’s never had cancer, but I think that’s something we can all celebrate there. And I think it was a touching moment. And, like I said, that’s part of the best of the American experience.”
