Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson will not attend President Trump’s first State of the Union address later this month, months after she quarreled with the White House in the wake of the death of Army Sgt. La David Johnson.
Wilson told The Tampa Bay Times Sunday in a statement she doesn’t plan to attend Trump’s speech to Congress on Jan. 30.
"For the first time since I began serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, I will not be attending the president's State of the Union address," Wilson said. "I have no doubt that instead of delivering a message of inclusivity and an agenda that benefits all Americans, President Trump's address will be full of innuendo, empty promises, and lies.”
Wilson and the White House dueled after she went public about a conversation Trump had with Johnson’s widow, during which Trump reportedly didn’t know Johnson’s name and said “he knew what he was signing up for.”
White House chief of staff John Kelly ripped Wilson for making Johnson’s death a political issue and called her “an empty barrel.”
Wilson added she feels Trump has let down the country with his leadership so far during his time in office.
"During his disappointing and destructive first year in office, Mr. Trump has demeaned the presidency at every opportunity and cast doubt on our nation's standing as a global leader. The United States' reputation is smoldering in the ashes of his recent racist and incendiary remarks about Haiti and African nations,” she said.
“Many of his proposed domestic policies are harmful to people of color, low-income communities, and the middle class. It would be an embarrassment to be seen with him at a forum that under any other president would be an honor to attend."
Georgia Rep. John Lewis, a Civil Rights Movement icon, will also not be attending Trump’s first State of the Union.
