Democrats are plotting several antics to try and distract President Donald Trump during his highly-anticipated State of the Union address tonight – from parading Jeffrey Epstein victims to staging a dramatic boycott.

Dozens of Democratic lawmakers have announced they will not attend the first official State of the Union address of Trump’s second term set to kick off at 9:00 PM ET.

Two counter-programming events are planned for Tuesday night in Washington, DC, with dozens of lawmakers expected to skip the official festivities in the House of Representatives chamber.

One event, dubbed the ‘State of the Swamp’ will take place at the National Press Club at 7:00 PM and is set to feature progressive lawmakers and media personalities, as well as activists in inflatable frog costumes.

Congressional Democrats, including Senator Ron Wyden, Eric Swalwell of California, Jason Crow of Colorado, Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, Eugene Vindman of Virginia, and Dan Goldman of New York, will attend, as will progressive mayors Jacob Frey of Minneapolis and Brandon Johnson of Chicago, whose cities have been targeted by the Trump administration with ICE raids. 

A second event, the ‘People’s State of the Union,’ will start at 8:00 PM, take place on the National Mall, and feature Democratic Senators Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Tina Smith of Minnesota, and Adam Schiff of California.

Democratic Representatives Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, Becca Balint of Vermont, Greg Casar and Veronica Escobar of Texas, Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Delia Ramirez of Illinois, Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey, John Larson of Connecticut, and April Delaney of Maryland will also be in attendance. 

Democrat Congressman Ro Khanna, who has co-led the release of the Epstein files in Congress over the last year, will bring Epstein survivor Haley Robson as his Tuesday night guest.

US President Donald Trump gives remarks before a Joint Session of Congress in the House Chamber of the US Capitol Building in Washington DC, on March 4th 2025

Representative Ro Khanna shakes hands with Haley Robson during a press conference on the Epstein Files Transparency bill on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, September 3rd, 2025

Democratic Congressman Al Green of Texas interrupts President Trump’s address to a joint session of the United States Congress at the US Capitol on March 4th, 2025

‘Haley’s courageous fight is proof that this isn’t about politics, it’s about exposing America’s two-tiered system of justice and bringing accountability to the Epstein class involved in the horrific abuse of young girls. She and her fellow survivors’ bravery was the catalyst for changing a rotten system and finally standing up for humanity and American values,’ Khanna noted in a press release issued last week by his office.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will host an Epstein survivor and fellow New Yorker, Dani Bensky, as his guest.

‘Dani has turned unimaginable pain into unrelenting advocacy. Survivors deserve justice. Trump must end the cover-up and release the full Epstein files—NOW,’ Schumer wrote in an X post. 

While no official walkout of Trump’s speech is planned from the chamber,  Representative Jared Huffman, a California Democrat, told Axios, ‘The only question for me is which of his disgusting lines prompts me to get up and leave, because at some point I will.’

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries presented his caucus with two options for Tuesday night. Attend Trump’s speech ‘silently’ or participate in alternative programming.

‘The two options that are in front of us, in our house, is either attend with silent defiance, or to not attend, and send a message to Donald Trump in that fashion, which will include participation in a variety of different alternate programming,’ Jeffries said during a press conference last Wednesday. 

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that she would be attending Trump’s speech because it was ‘important to do.’ 

President Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, DC as  Vice President JD Vance and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson applaud behind him

Dani Bensky, a victim of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein attends a House Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, DC, on February 11, 2026

‘I will be there as he tries to put a spin on this economy, a happy face on an economy where he promised for an entire year when he was running for president, he would lower costs on day one, and here we sit on day 400, the cost of groceries is up, the cost of utilities is up, the cost to build a home is up, and the cost of healthcare is through the roof,’ Warren argued to Collins.’ 

Democrats are also planning at least three rebuttals to Trump’s Tuesday address.

Senator Alex Padilla was pushed out of the room as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem held a news conference in Los Angeles, Thursday, June 12, 2025. He will give the Spanish-language response to Trump’s State of the Union

Virginia’s Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger will give the official State of the Union response for her party

Virginia’s Democratic governor, Abigail Spanberger, will deliver the official rebuttal address, and Congresswoman Summer Lee will give the progressive’s response.

The Democrats’ Spanish language response to Trump’s speech will come from California Senator Alex Padilla, who was thrown out of a press conference held by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles last summer.

The spectacle occurred after he reportedly did not identify himself as a member of Congress during the event, and lunged towards the front of the room where Noem was speaking.

Padilla was forcefully removed and handcuffed by officers as he tried to question Noem about immigration raids.