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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
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A diligent Fox News correspondent stood firm while being shoved by “Squad” Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) after she and other party leaders declined to explain why they remained seated during some of President Donald Trump’s most bipartisan moments.
Johnny Belisario, reporting from the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, relentlessly pursued Democrats who were captured on camera sitting with stern expressions while Republicans applauded the mother of Laken Riley and Trump’s pledge to keep biological men out of women’s sports.
A barrage of questions from Belisario flustered Democratic senators and congressmembers as they hurried for elevators and office entrances in an attempt to avoid him. Omar, visibly the most irritated, shoved the Fox correspondent out of the elevator doors as he tried to ask her why she didn’t stand for the speech.
“You need to move,” barked the angry congresswoman, pushing Belisario and closing the doors on him. “Have a good day! I need to go to a meeting.”
Other Democrats like Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Adam Schiff of California simply said that the president didn’t say anything worth clapping or standing for, including, apparently, the parents of Laken Riley, who was murdered by an illegal immigrant, or DJ Daniel, a 13-year-old cancer survivor whom Trump made an honorary Secret Service agent.
“The president got before the American people and didn’t talk about how he’ll drive down grocery prices,” Booker said as he hurried to a meeting. Schiff (D-CA) replied, “There was nothing the president said that was factual or truthful” before diving into a private room behind his staff.
Other Democrats simply denied that they behaved badly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, or where you got that information,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota told Belisario after he asked her why she didn’t stand at all for any of Trump’s speech.
In one absurd moment, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), who was wheelchair-bound, rocked back and forth as the Fox correspondent asked why he supports “women in sports.”
“Shorts? They should not be in shorts,” replied Cohen, pretending not to understand the question as he wheeled into an elevator.
Not all Democrats were dismissive. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania admitted that the optics of his party’s behavior on national television were not “the best look.”
WATCH:
Following the speech a week ago, Fetterman took to social media to criticize his party.
“A sad cavalcade of self owns and unhinged petulance. It only makes Trump look more presidential and restrained. We’re becoming the metaphorical car alarms that nobody pays attention to—and it may not be the winning message,” the senator wrote in a post on X.
Several Democratic lawmakers held signs up during Trump’s speech with messages including “FALSE,” “SAVE MEDICAID,” “PROTECT VETERANS” and “MUSK STEALS.” Shortly after Trump began speaking, Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) stood up and began shouting that the president didn’t have a “mandate” from voters, and was removed from the chamber on House Speaker Mike Johnson’s order.
Other Democrats chose not to attend the speech at all, while others walked out while Trump was speaking.
“The Democrats should lose the Midterms based on their behavior at last night’s Joint Address to Congress,” Trump declared in a Wednesday post on Truth Social.
Trump declared that “Republicans should utilize the footage provided on the total disrespect they showed to all of those that were honored that night, including young ladies who were killed by illegal migrants, people with terminal cancer, etc. They didn’t even have the common courtesy to stand, smile, or applaud. This could be, on analyzing the full tape of this Historic Event, your full CAMPAIGN TO VICTORY! In other words, Republicans can take what happened last night, and win any Race in the Country.”