WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams initially intended to sit through President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress. She wore pink like many other Democratic women and carried signs with slogans like “Save Medicaid” and “Protect Veterans.”
But less than halfway through Trump’s speech, Williams walked out of the chambers. She said in a statement afterward that she couldn’t stomach the president taking credit for things he was doing in the White House that were harming her constituents in Atlanta.
“His actions threaten to rip food from the tables of families who rely on SNAP, gut Medicaid for those who need it most, and he’s already put federal workers — many of them in my district — on the chopping block,” said Williams, who also serves as chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia.
The CDC, headquartered in Atlanta, is already facing staffing shortages, and his reckless cuts put public health at risk.”
Other Georgia Democrats never showed up at all. That included U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, whose staff said he planned to watch the joint address from his home in D.C.
U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson announced in advance that he would not be attending. But he live tweeted his reaction on X.
“Is anybody keeping up with the number of lies Trump has told so far?” Johnson, D-Lithonia, wrote at one point. Later he posted: “Now Trump is threatening to take Greenland. This is crazy!”
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, an Atlanta Democrat who is up for re-election next year, and Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, were among the Democrats who sat through the entire speech. They were stone faced for most of the evening.
However, Bishop was among the lawmakers who got animated during a portion of the speech when Trump mentioned cracking down on unelected bureaucrats in the federal government. Bishop pointed his arms toward Elon Musk, who was sitting in the visitors’ gallery.
Musk, who is serving as an advisory role to Trump, has been the de facto leader of the cost-cutting efforts through his Department of Government Efficiency initiative.
Georgia Republicans, meanwhile, widely praised Trump’s speech.
“AMERICA IS BACK,” U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter wrote on X.
After U.S. Rep. Al Green of Texas was ejected from the chamber for repeatedly shouting at Trump, U.S. Rep. Mike Collins was elated.
“They’re about to have to escort me out for being too damn excited watching Dems getting thrown out,” he posted.
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