Sen. John Fetterman didn’t shy away from criticizing his own party’s attempt at a protest during President Donald Trump’s congressional address Tuesday night, describing the whole shtick as a “sad cavalcade of self owns.”
Throughout Trump’s speech, several Dem lawmakers held up small, paddle signs with slogans like “Musk Steals” or “Save Medicaid.” Texas Rep. Al Green was also swiftly escorted out of the House chamber after refusing to take a seat at the start of Trump’s address and yelling that he had “no mandate” to cut Medicaid.
Meanwhile, other members of the party, all women, also wore pink to spotlight how the Trump administration was “negatively impacting women and families” according to New Mexico Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández.
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The party’s silent protest largely fell flat, with a handful of users online comparing it to a game of bingo.
“A sad cavalcade of self owns and unhinged petulance,” Fetterman wrote on X Wednesday. “It only makes Trump look more presidential and restrained. We’re becoming the metaphorical car alarms that nobody pays attention to—and it may not be the winning message.”
A handful of Dems also walked out during Trump’s speech, including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Chris Van Hollen, and Reps. Jared Huffman, Ilhan Omar, Pramila Jayapal, Jamie Raskin, and Zoe Lofgren, among others.
“This is my fifth such speech to Congress, and once again, I look at the Democrats in front of me and I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud,” Trump said during his address.
“These people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand, and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements. They won’t do it no matter what… and it just shouldn’t be this way,” he continued.
