The People’s Truth
WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, Feb. 24, President Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union address at the Capitol. More than 80 congressional Democrats were not present. Almost three dozen instead attended an event in direct protest of the president.
The People’s State of the Union was an event held on the National Mall concurrently with the State of the Union address. Organized by MeidasTouch and MoveOn Civic Action and hosted by independent journalists Joy Reid and Katie Phang, the event invited several lawmakers and other speakers to share what Katie Bethell, the executive director of MoveOn, described as “the true State of our Union.” At the beginning of the event, Bethell said, “We know that Donald Trump’s State of the Union will bear no resemblance to what’s actually happening in this country today.” Speakers denounced the president’s address and described the struggles facing Americans that they suspected would be glossed over in Trump’s speech.
The People’s State of the Union was not the Democratic Party’s official response to the address, which was instead delivered by Gov. Abigail Spanberger in Williamsburg, Virginia. The event was a boycott—the largest organized boycott of the State of the Union address in American history. According to MoveOn, the livestream garnered over 4 million views across various platforms and streams.
“The true State of the Union is this: This union is in crisis right now. Our cities are under attack by lawless law enforcement. Our democracy is wilting under ceaseless attacks from a president who wants to be a despot. Millions of Americans are losing their healthcare because the president has chosen corruption, to pad the pockets of his billionaire friends instead of helping average Americans. You’re not gonna hear any of that in that speech tonight,” said Connecticut senator Chris Murphy. While Murphy was introducing his guest, refugee and immigrant advocate Fereshteh Ganjavi, a heckler rushed the stage to shout, “Go Trump,” before quickly being pulled away from the microphone and off the stage.
Speakers touched on various topics that personally affected them, their constituents, and other Americans. Affordability, healthcare, ICE, immigration, and the Epstein files were all hot topics. Speakers praised anti-ICE efforts in Minneapolis. Guest speakers shared emotional stories of their personal experiences with ICE detention centers, surviving Jeffrey Epstein, and struggling through the affordability crisis.
Trump said the affordability crisis was a “big hoax,” Maryland senator Chris Van Hollen reminded the crowd. “Well, it’s real,” Van Hollen said.
The event began at 8 p.m., an hour before the president’s address, and ran for more than three hours. Held just across the Capitol Reflecting Pool, the scene of Trump’s speech served as a backdrop for the boycott. Every road surrounding the Capitol was closed and heavily populated by the D.C. Police Department. The walk to the National Mall was decorated with bus stop advertisements displaying the national debt, which currently sits at over $39 trillion.
Alongside the millions of viewers online, a few hundred supporters braved the February chill to physically attend the event. Cheers and applause broke through the chattering of teeth as the temperature dipped below freezing. Attendees held signs reading: “DEFEND DEMOCRACY,” “ENOUGH,” “CAN’T ERASE US,” “STAND WITH UKRAINE,” “HANDS OFF THE CONSTITUTION,” “LOVE IS STRONGER THAN HATE,” “LOVE MELTS ICE,” “RELEASE THE FILES,” “BOMBING IRAN WON’T BURY THE EPSTEIN FILES,” “TRUMPUTIN,” “NO MORE $$$$ for I.C.E.,” and “ABOLISH I.C.E.” Wind bit through heavy winter coats but helped the American flags fly.
The event was attended by both supporters and protesters. While Reid was speaking, a woman made herself known to the crowd when she rolled up a speaker on wheels and began to heckle Reid.
“Joy Reid was replaced by a drag queen,” she accused into the microphone.
The woman was an avid Trump supporter who stated that she gets her news from multiple sources and frequently travels to see things with her own eyes. She claimed that Democrats were in the pockets of billionaires. She did not share a source for this, nor for her drag queen replacement conspiracy.
The People’s State of the Union also saw heaps of journalists. From independent social media journalists armed with years-old iPhones to George Washington University students to the New York Times to foreign-language media, the event was thoroughly covered. One nonpartisan independent journalist, Myles Morell, stressed the importance of consuming news from both ends of the political spectrum—i.e., watching both the People’s State of the Union as well as the official address—in order to stay aware and informed.
Protests of the State of the Union address are nothing new. The first organized boycott by congressional representatives was in 1971, when members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) did not attend President Nixon’s address. The CBC shared in an open letter to Nixon that it was because he was ignoring the needs of black Americans. In 2026, that frustration has extended to many Americans outside of what Reid called “the Epstein class.”
“We know the State of our Union,” said Van Hollen. “We know it is under attack from a lawless president who is shredding our Constitution and who is attacking our democracy.”
