NEED TO KNOW

• Rep. Maxine Waters will skip Trump’s 2026 State of the Union on Tuesday, continuing a boycott streak dating back to 2017
• Waters has not attended any Trump address to Congress across both terms, including inaugurations and joint sessions
• Her absence comes as 20+ Democrats plan counter-events while party leaders debate whether boycotts help or hurt the opposition

WASHINGTON, DC (TDR) — Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) will once again be absent when President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday evening — extending a boycott pattern that now spans nearly a decade of Trump’s political career.

The 87-year-old congresswoman, currently in her 18th term representing California’s 43rd Congressional District, has not attended a single Trump address to a joint session of Congress. That record stretches across both inaugurations, both joint addresses and every State of the Union Trump has delivered — a consistency few other lawmakers in either party can match.

Waters’ Boycott Timeline Tracks Trump’s Entire Presidency

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The pattern began in January 2017 when Waters skipped Trump’s inauguration alongside dozens of fellow Democrats. One month later, she boycotted his first joint address to Congress, telling colleagues she could not contain her opposition to the president.

By January 2018, when Trump delivered his first formal State of the Union, Waters had sharpened her public reasoning.

“Why would I take my time to go and sit and listen to a liar? To someone who lies in the face of facts, to someone who can change their tune day in and day out.” — Maxine Waters

That language became a hallmark. In 2019, she urged Americans to turn off their televisions entirely rather than watch the speech, declaring the president unworthy of the audience.

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By 2020, Waters framed her boycott around Trump’s first impeachment, refusing to attend what she called the address of an impeached president. That year, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi famously tore up her copy of the speech on the dais — a moment that overshadowed the boycotters entirely.

During Trump’s second term, the pattern resumed immediately. Waters boycotted the 2025 joint address to Congress — the same speech where Rep. Al Green (D-TX) was physically removed by the sergeant-at-arms for heckling the president and multiple Democrats walked out after Trump taunted Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

Boycott Strategy Divides Democrats Ahead of Tuesday

Waters’ consistent absence places her squarely within a growing faction. More than 20 Democratic lawmakers are expected to skip Tuesday’s address, with many heading to a counter-rally on the National Mall hosted by progressive groups MoveOn and MeidasTouch. The event, dubbed the “People’s State of the Union,” will feature former MSNBC hosts and everyday Americans affected by Trump’s policies.

But not everyone in the party supports the approach. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) plans to attend and has urged colleagues who join him to sit in silent defiance rather than repeat the disruptions of 2025.

“We’re not going to Donald Trump’s house. He’s coming to our house. It’s my view that you don’t let anyone ever run you off of your block.” — Hakeem Jeffries

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who also plans to attend, asked fellow Democrats to conduct themselves with dignity regardless of their feelings about the president.

“I don’t care who the president is, don’t yell and disrupt that. You really should respect the office.” — John Fetterman

The White House offered its own assessment. Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told reporters that boycotting Democrats had voted against tax cuts, border security and military modernization, adding that their refusal to attend was unsurprising.

The Effectiveness Question No One Can Answer

Critics from both inside and outside the party question whether boycotts produce measurable results. Sports commentator Stephen A. Smith, a self-described Democrat, called the planned boycotts the kind of behavior that undermines the party’s credibility.

“If you’re going to act as juvenile, as petulant, as petty as you accuse the president of the United States to be, how are you ever going to hold a high moral ground?” — Stephen A. Smith

Historically, congressional boycotts of presidential addresses are rare outside the Trump era. The largest known instance before Trump came in 1971, when all 12 members of the Congressional Black Caucus — a body Waters herself later chaired — skipped President Richard Nixon‘s address after he allegedly refused to meet with them. In 2012, one Republican lawmaker boycotted President Obama’s speech — a single member protest that barely registered.

Meanwhile, Waters faces her own political pressures at home. Nonprofit executive Myla Rahman, 53, has launched a primary challenge in the 43rd District, arguing the 87-year-old incumbent has grown out of touch with constituents whose average age is 36. Waters has won every election since 1990 with at least 70% of the vote, but the challenge reflects broader generational tensions within the Democratic Party.

Whether Waters watches from home, attends a counter-event or simply carries on as she has for nearly a decade, one thing is certain: her seat in the House chamber will be empty Tuesday night. It has been every time Trump has spoken there.

After nearly a decade of boycotting Trump’s speeches to Congress, has Waters’ protest strategy produced the accountability outcomes she sought — or has consistent absence reduced her influence over the policies she opposes?

Sources

This report was compiled using information from NBC News, The Hill, Katie Couric Media, NOTUS, Newsweek, Washington Examiner, Fox News, CNN, Time, Spectrum News, Ballotpedia, and Mediaite.

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