74
submitted 12 hours ago by SLVRDRGN@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

Democratic lawmakers are discussing a litany of options to protest at President Trump's speech to Congress on Tuesday, including through outright disruption, a half dozen House Democrats told Axios.

Why it matters: Some of these tactics go beyond their leaders' recommendation that members bring guests hurt by Trump and DOGE. This sets up a potential clash between party traditionalists and its more combative anti-Trump wing.

  • "The part that we all agree on is that this is not business as usual and we would like to find a way — productively — to express our outrage," one House Democrat told Axios.

  • There is widespread disagreement among Democrats, both inside and outside of Congress, over what would be the most appropriate and effective form of demonstration.

A wide array of props — including noisemakers — has also been floated:

  • Signs with anti-Trump or anti-DOGE messages — just as Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) held up a sign during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech last year that said "war criminal."
  • Eggs or empty egg cartons to highlight how inflation is driving up the price of eggs.
  • Pocket constitutions to make the case that Trump has been violating the Constitution by shutting down congressionally authorized agencies.
  • Hand clappers, red cards and various other props have also been discussed, multiple sources said.

What they're saying: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) wrote in a letter to House Democrats that he and other leaders plan to attend the speech to "make clear to the nation that there is a strong opposition party ready, willing and able to serve as a check and balance."

  • Jeffries also said leadership understands if some members skip the speech — as several have said they plan to do — but urged a "strong, determined and dignified Democratic presence in the chamber."

  • House Democratic caucus chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) told Axios leadership is telling members to "keep the focus on the health and safety and the economic wellbeing of our constituents."

top 19 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] PumpkinSkink@lemmy.world 6 points 4 hours ago

When one of them gets arrested I'll know they mean it.

[-] Litebit@lemmy.world 6 points 7 hours ago

make sure to call him by his name, Krasnov Trump.

[-] OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 20 points 10 hours ago

“The part that we all agree on is that this is not business as usual and we would like to find a way — productively — to express our outrage,” one House Democrat told Axios.

In other words, this isn't business as usual but we're going to restrict ourselves to behaving as though it is.

They're fucking useless.

[-] Sanctus@lemmy.world 10 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago)

KISS NO RINGS

TRUST NO CROWNS

LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOO

Edit: oh, god dammit...

[-] WatDabney@lemmy.dbzer0.com 24 points 11 hours ago

America in the 21st century - the Republicans are dismantling the government in order to make it even easier for the 1% to loot and pillage without consequence, and the Democrats are debating maybe disrupting a speech.

[-] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 4 points 7 hours ago

A wide array of props — including noisemakers — has also been floated

Cool act like clowns. That'll show him...

[-] treadful@lemmy.zip 2 points 6 hours ago

Maybe they'll make some nice crafts as well.

[-] SLVRDRGN@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago

Actually - hear me out - maybe speaking in Trump's language will get to him???

[-] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 2 points 7 hours ago

Yea. That's not stupid props.

[-] SLVRDRGN@lemmy.world 6 points 7 hours ago

Trumps been using stupid props for a while

[-] capt_wolf@lemmy.world 25 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

Coming soon, "Democrats who disrupted presidential speech banned from further presidential addresses."

Also, "ready, willing, and able?"

They weren't READY despite repeated warnings and in the face of blatant statements and evidence. And they haven't been ABLE to do anything to stop the continued dismantling of our government infrastructure since Trump took office.

How about fucking doing anything?

[-] ptz@dubvee.org 7 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

How about fucking doing anything?

With a firm minority in both chambers of Congress, what, exactly, would you have them do besides raise awareness? This problem is on the voters who elected all these clowns, and right now, they're the only ones who can fix it. And that's not going to happen until 2026.

[-] Zorsith 4 points 11 hours ago

Leak information on their political rivals to make them less safe. Location, security details, habits, etc. Make them paranoid and make them live in fear.

[-] YtA4QCam2A9j7EfTgHrH@infosec.pub 4 points 8 hours ago

This is so courageous. Good job you fucking losers.

[-] ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 10 hours ago

A wide array of props — including noisemakers — has also been floated:

One particular type of noisemaker comes to mind...

[-] OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 3 points 10 hours ago

Musk's son telling Trump he's not president and to shush?

[-] RangerJosey@lemmy.ml 5 points 11 hours ago

Why show your hand? Idiots.

[-] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 11 hours ago

We are so lost.

this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2025
74 points (100.0% liked)

News

25600 readers
3825 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS