Commentary
Commentary
President Donald Trump grins while delivering his State of the Union address Tuesday in the Capitol. Democratic events competing with the address did not inspire confidence. (Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)

Dem Protests to SOTU: Bad Singing, Radical Giraffe Furries, Fake Tears, Pro-Trump Crashers, and Almost Zero Audience

 By C. Douglas Golden  February 25, 2026 at 7:08am

If you thought the Democrats were crazy inside President Donald Trump’s Tuesday State of the Union address, you should have seen what happened with the ones who decided to skip it.

Now, mind you, it was plenty crazy inside the House chambers during Trump’s speech — the longest State of the Union in history, which gave plenty of opportunity for shenanigans.

It got bad enough that Trump actually called it out:

And those people were crazy. But, as The Wall Street Journal pointed out, that wasn’t even the nuttiest of the nuttiest.

At least roughly 50 Democratic members of the House and Senate plan to forgo the speech, which typically draws most members of the party out of power. Most of the Democrats protesting will appear instead at dueling counterprogramming events in Washington that will feature a range of Trump critics, including a former press secretary for the president and celebrities such as Robert De Niro and Mark Ruffalo.

Those efforts will serve as a test for Democrats to present a unified response ahead of the midterm elections, as the party tries to capitalize on growing voter frustrations with Trump’s immigration crackdown and handling of the economy.

Democrats widely thought lawmakers mishandled the response to Trump’s address to Congress last year, when Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas was removed from the chamber after heckling the president and other Democrats waved paddle-shaped protest signs that were seen as ineffective.

Well, Al Green got kicked out again, and they didn’t necessarily make a better show of themselves outside of the Capitol, either.

Take the “State of the Swamp” event (that was its actual name), which was hosted by Robert De Niro, Mark Ruffalo, and Jim Acosta. Attendees at the National Press Club in Washington included Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Reps. Eric Swalwell of California, Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, and Rep. Dan Goldman of New York, among others, according to a USA Today report.

It also included, um, a radical leftist giraffe furry:

Also, people in frog costumes:

Totally normal. There were also unhinged conspiracy theories like this one from Rep. Goldman:

Meanwhile, over at the People’s State of the Union, you had former MSNBC anchor Joy Reid singing in some kind of duet:

There was also the fake tears and warbly voice of Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, lamenting the poor “trans kids across this country” who won’t be able to mutilate themselves by getting irreversible treatments they can’t consent to:

There was also a pro-Trump crasher, who called Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut a “scumbag.”

There was all kinds of weirdness, but one common thread: Not really a whole lot of people, aside from reporters or counter-protesters:

Yes, that’s right: It seems more people wanted to stick around to sit in their seat and watch Al Green crash out (again) than to show up at these events, which was described by the Journal as the “Democrats’ latest anti-Trump tactic.”

Looks like that tactic got foiled. Again.

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