Some Democrats will use their guest tickets to President Trump’s address to Congress tonight to troll Trump, by making him face the Muslim-Americans and immigrants they say are suffering under his policies.
But Trump’s guest list serves as a counter-argument: Half of his six invited guests are people with loved ones killed by undocumented immigrants, McClatchy reported.
Representatives for Meryl Streep did not immediately respond to requests for comment on a report that Democrats invited her to attend after she famously belittled Trump at the Golden Globes.
Presidents have long invited guests to such speeches to represent their vision for the country, or to provide examples of people who will benefit from their policies. The Democrats’ strategy should feel familiar to Trump, who infamously brought women who accused Bill Clinton of sexual assault to a presidential debate in an attempt to spook Hillary Clinton.
Instead of inviting their spouses or children to the speech, Democrats are inviting people they hope will make Trump reconsider his immigration policies — or at least embarrass him on television.
“I want Trump to see the face of a woman, the face of a Muslim, and the face of someone whose family has enriched and contributed to this country despite starting out as refugees,” Rep. Luis Gutiérrez of Illinois told The Associated Press.
“Mr. Trump needs to see the people he has hurt,” Rep. Judy Chu of California Told the AP.
Trump has introduced plans for deportations and a wall at the U.S.-Mexican border to stop illegal immigration. He also plans to unveil a new travel ban targeting people from several predominantly Muslim countries after his first attempt at a travel ban ran into legal challenges.
McClatchy said Trump’s guests include Jessica Davis and Susan Oliver, whose husbands were sheriff’s deputies killed near Sacramento area in 2014 by an undocumented immigrant, and Jamiel Shaw, Sr., whose 17-year-old son Jamiel Jr. was killed by an undocumented immigrant in 2008.