U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) did not attend President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union Address on Tuesday in protest of the president, according to a news release.

“I refuse to normalize President Donald Trump and his loathsome language and actions,” Schakowsky said in a statement, which was released before the address began. “The American people have been subjected to a year of racist, erratic, and divisive behavior from their Commander in Chief, and I refuse to accept that as the new normal.”

Two other representatives from Illinois, U.S. Reps. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) will also boycott the address, as will 11 more Democratic representatives from across the country, CNN reported. The boycott could be among the largest in recent history, rivaling those in protest of former President Bill Clinton in 1999, who gave an address weeks after his impeachment by the House of Representatives, and former President Richard Nixon in 1971, CNN added.

In the release, Schakowsky listed several of Trump’s statements and actions over the past year, including his executive order in January instituting a travel ban and his recent comments regarding immigration from Haiti and African nations. Schakowsky said these, among others, have “sown division and hatred.”

“My constituents have spoken loud and clear: they’ve told me that they don’t want their Member of Congress acting as if this is just another Republican Administration,” Schakowsky said in the release. “They’ve asked me to resist and they’ve asked me to boycott.”

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @allymauch