Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) said she is boycotting President Trump’s first State of the Union because of his behavior toward black people.
“To go would be to honor the president and I don’t think he deserves to be honored at this time after being so hateful towards black people and then black countries, Haiti and the whole continent of Africa,” she said during an interview on CNN.
“It hurts, and he has brought the White House to the lowest and I don’t think he needs to be honored with my presence.”
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Wilson was making reference to Trump’s reported comments in which he called Haiti, El Salvador and African nations “shithole countries.”
Trump faced widespread backlash and accusations of racism for the comments. He has since pushed back against the reports and denied he is racist.
Last year, Wilson was attacked by the Trump administration after talking about the details of a call between Trump and the widow of a fallen soldier.
Chief of staff John Kelly claimed that Wilson had taken credit for securing the funding for an FBI building at a speech that Kelly attended, but video later disproved that claim.
Multiple Democrats are planning to boycott Trump’s State of the Union address this week. Other lawmakers who don’t plan to attend include Democratic Reps. John Lewis (Ga.), Earl Blumenauer (Ore.) and Maxine Waters (Calif.).
Other Democratic lawmakers have said they plan to protest the president’s speech in other ways.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other female Democrats say they plan to wear all black in solidarity with sexual harassment victims to honor the “Me Too” movement.