Casten Will Not Attend Trump Address to Congress

March 04, 2025 Casten Will Not Attend Trump Address to Congress Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Representative Sean Casten (IL-06) announced he would not attend President Donald Trump’s Address to a Joint Session of Congress and released the following statement: “While I have great respect for the office of the President of the United States, I have no respect for the man who currently occupies it. The president has consistently violated our constitution, our laws, and the integrity of our institutions. He incited a violent insurrection to overthrow American democracy, only to then pardon rioters who physically assaulted the police officers protecting the Capitol on January 6th. In the last week alone, he has spouted Russian propaganda, cowered before the world’s richest man, and launched the United States into an ego-fueled trade war that stands to raise the cost of living for Americans. “To attend tonight’s Joint Session of Congress might be mistakenly assumed to imply I have respect for Donald Trump, Speaker Johnson, or the rest of Trump’s enablers. To attend and be disruptive might be mistakenly assumed to imply I do not respect the office of the Presidency or the Congress of the United States. As such, I have chosen not to attend at all.” ### Print Email Share Tweet