Democrats troll Trump with State of the Union guests who oppose him on everything from Kavanaugh to transgender troops
House and Senate Democrats will ensure that many of the guests staring down at President Trump during Tuesday’s State of the Union address despise his Supreme Court pick, disagree with his views on guns, immigration, and trade policy and want to block his decision to ban transgender individuals from the military. As her guest for the speech, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has invited Ana Maria Archila, the co-director of the left-leaning Center for Popular Democracy who briefly became famous last year after an emotional elevator confrontation with then-Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., in which she demanded his explanation for backing Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, who Democrats staunchly opposed and who was accused of sexual misconduct during high school. Flake, after the elevator encounter with Archila, called for an FBI probe into Kavanaugh, which did not produce any evidence against. “She’s living proof that the courage within all of us can change the world,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., invited Cameron Kasky, who survived the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Fla., and now advocates for new gun control laws. “After 6 yrs of working in Congress to end gun violence, I was losing faith,” Swalwell tweeted. “Moments of silence were never followed by action. But something changed after the Parkland tragedy. The surviving students used their voices to inspire change. That’s why my #SOTU guest is @cameron_kasky.”
The head of the House Democrats’ task force on gun violence, Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., invited Dr. Joseph V. Sakran, a gun control advocate who is director of emergency general surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Sakran suffered a gunshot wound as a teenager. “His presence will send a message that Congress will act to help prevent gun violence and to honor those victims like Dr. Sakran and his patients,” Thompson said.
Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., invited Trump’s former housekeeper, Sandra Diaz, who worked for Trump while she was an illegal immigrant and will be looking down at the president as he advocates for a border wall to stop more illegal crossings at the southern border. “When I first met Sandra, I was inspired by her story & courage,” Gomez tweeted. “It’s no small feat for a migrant from Costa Rica to stand up to a bully & hypocrite in the @WhiteHouse.” Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who is running for president, has invited Lt. Commander Blake Dremann, a transgender service member who is president of a trans military organization and opposes Trump’s ban on trans service members.
Rep. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., invited a mother and daughter who were separated by U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement agents when they crossed into the United States illegally last year. Democrats want the Trump administration to stop detaining families who come to the United States illegally or separating children from their families because they are not allowed to remain in detention longer than a few weeks. “We must bear witness to the suffering that Trump’s child separation policy inflicted," Merkley said in announcing his guest list.
Some Republicans have invited guests with a pro-border security message. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, invited Manny Padilla, the former Border Patrol sector chief for the Rio Grande Valley who has advocated for building a wall along some areas of the border. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, invited National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd, who has called for the construction of a border wall to discourage illegal immigrants from attempting the dangerous journey to get to the U.S. border.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/congress/democrats-troll-trump-with-state-of-the-union-guests-who-oppose-him-on-everything-from-kavanaugh-to-transgender-troops