Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) says she will skip President Trump’s address to Congress Tuesday night, according to ABC News.
.@MaxineWaters is skipping Trump’s speech to Congress. Told caucus this morning that anyone who can’t sit still shouldn’t go, per sources.
— Ben Siegel (@benyc) February 28, 2017
Waters’s office confirmed to The Hill that she will not attend the speech, but denied that she has encouraged other members to skip as well.
The California Democrat similarly refused to attend Trump’s inauguration in January, saying she “never contemplated even going near any of those activities.” Nearly 70 other Democratic lawmakers also skipped the ceremony.
“I don’t honor him, I don’t respect him and I don’t want to be involved with him,” Waters said at the time.
Waters has positioned herself as a staunch opponent of the president. She said earlier this month that her “greatest desire is to lead [Trump] right into impeachment.”
She later clarified that comment, saying that she meant the president’s actions were leading him toward impeachment.
“I think he is leading himself into that kind of position, where folks will begin to ask, ‘What are we going to do?’” she said. “And the answer’s going to be, eventually, we’ve got to do something about him.”
So far, Waters is the only lawmaker to announce that she will boycott Trump’s first address to Congress.
– This story was updated at 11:39 a.m.