Three out LGBTQ+ congressmembers walked out of President Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday night after he spouted numerous lies and transphobic talking points. The congressmembers — which included Reps. Mark Takano (D-CA), Emily Randall (D-WA), and Mark Pocan (D-WI) — each explained why they walked out and the issues they wish Trump had been honest about.
“I just walked out of the President’s speech,” Pocan said in a video posted to X. “I just couldn’t take it any more: the lies…. I hope you didn’t waste too much time watching the president tonight. There had to have been something better on … literally any channel…. British cricket… All-star wrestling from the 70s, like … listen to Nickelback — anything would have been better use than watching the president’s speech night.”
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Pocan noted that the congressional Progressive Caucus live fact-checked the speech and Pocan himself held a small placard in his hand that had the word “false” written on it; numerous other Democratic lawmakers also held signs with other messages like, “Musk Steals,” “Save Medicaid,” and “Protect Veterans.”
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“Just the president’s behavior, like a petulant child. It’s just so unbecoming of the President of the United States. It was really awful,” Pocan continued. “Bottom line: What he didn’t talk about was the fact he’s going to cut Medicaid to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest. What he didn’t talk about is what he’s going to do is literally from children through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. What he didn’t talk about was the 45% cut to education that’s going to go on your property taxes so that Elon Musk gets a tax cut. He didn’t talk about what he’s actually doing, because that’s the number one priority the Republicans have right now in Congress.”
“Elections have consequences. He’s the president right now. We’re going to fight like hell back, but we need everyone [to] make your member of Congress have a town hall: make them accountable to you, make them answer your questions. If we do this, we can fight back and win.”
Listening to ANYTHING – even Nickelback – would have been a better use of time than listening to Trump's address. pic.twitter.com/K3wU1JfPOZ
— Rep. Mark Pocan (@RepMarkPocan) March 5, 2025
Rep. Takano noted in a social media post that he came to Trump’s speech hoping to hear his explanation about “why he illegally fired veterans” from the Department of Veterans Affairs. “Instead, he’s spent the whole time lying and attacking.”
“Enough is enough,” Takano wrote. “I walked out.”
I came to tonight’s speech hoping to hear the President explain why he illegally fired veterans from the VA. Instead, he’s spent the whole time lying and attacking.
— Mark Takano (@RepMarkTakano) March 5, 2025
Enough is enough. I walked out.
Rep. Randall explained her walkout in a Bluesky video, stating, “A lot of you wondered, ‘Why go at all?’ and for me, I think it’s important that we stand in the people’s house, that we don’t cede the territory to … a president that has been lying and attacking our communities over and over and over.”
But, she continued, “We saw that again tonight: lie after lie after lie about the real state of the union, about what people are feeling and about the actions that this administration is taking. I finally walked out because Trump pointed to a childhood cancer survivor, someone who should be celebrating a story of resiliency, but at the same time, he is trying to gut nearly a trillion dollars from Medicaid, a program that keeps sick kids and kids with disabilities alive … Enough is enough.”
The child that Randall mentioned was a 13-year-old kid from Houston, Texas, named Devarjaye “DJ” Daniel, who survived brain cancer. Trump mentioned that Daniel had been honorarily sworn into 100 police departments. In fact, Daniel wore the uniform of the Houston Police Department at the speech.
Trump then directed his new Secret Service director, Sean Curran, to officially make Daniel an agent of the U.S. Secret Service. While Curran gave Daniel a Secret Service badge, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) held up a whiteboard that read, “You cut cancer research.”
Some thoughts after the joint address…
— Rep. Emily Randall (@repemilyrandall.bsky.social) March 4, 2025 at 11:32 PM
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Another out lawmaker, Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT), didn’t attend Trump’s speech at all, preferring instead to fact-check the event in a livestream event with the progressive organization MoveOn.
Consider this your antidote to Trump's State of the Union address. I'll be fact-checking and live reacting alongside @ChrisMurphyCT, @SenBrianSchatz, @Sen_Alsobrooks, @SenMarkey, @feministabulous, @MoveOn, and more!
— Rep. Becca Balint (@RepBeccaB) March 4, 2025
Join us: https://t.co/xH4dMIWvS4
Trump mentioned LGBTQ+ issues several times during his speech, referring to transgender identity as a “lie” and claiming that his administration had cut billions of dollars in foreign aid related to LGBTQ+ issues.
Numerous other Democratic legislators also walked out, including Reps. Lloyd Doggett (TX), Judy Chu (CA), Ayanna Pressley (MA), Veronica Escobar (TX), Pramila Jayapal (WA), Ilhan Omar (MN), Jamie Raskin (MD) and Jared Huffman (CA).
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