Recently sworn-in Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will deliver the response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Speech next week, Democrat congressional leaders announced Thursday.
Spanberger “stands in stark contrast to Donald Trump, who will lie, deflect and blame everyone but himself for his failed presidency on Tuesday evening,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in his statement announcing the pick.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that Spanberger “will lay out a clear path forward: lower everyday costs, protect healthcare, and defend the freedoms that define who we are as a nation.”
The tradition of the opposition party delivering a televised response to the President’s State of the Union address began in 1966, when Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen, R-lll., and House Minority Leader Gerald Ford, R-Mich., responded to President Lyndon B. Johnson’s address.
Several governors, such as Republican Nikki Haley of South Carolina and Democrat Bill Clinton of Arkansas, have taken part in delivering the response, which typically airs immediately after the president’s address.
Schumer and Jeffries also announced Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., will deliver the Democrat response in Spanish.
Padilla, who in 2025 was forcibly removed from a Department of Homeland Security press conference after accosting Secretary Kristi Noem, has been an opponent of President Donald Trump’s immigration law enforcement policies.
Padilla recently voted against advancing a funding bill which would have funded DHS, which is currently undergoing a shutdown.
In a statement, Padilla previewed how he would speak on the issue of immigration.
“We refuse to accept a federal government that weaponizes enforcement agencies against immigrants and U.S. citizens alike,” said Padilla.
After the publication of this article, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Daily Signal in a statement, “Spanberger and Virginia Democrats ran a campaign pledging affordability and immediately introduced a slew of policies to raise taxes, increase energy prices, and make law-abiding residents less safe – these broken promises make her perfect representative for today’s Democrat party.”
Jackson added, “Americans have benefitted from the commonsense policies Republicans have governed with, Spanberger couldn’t be further from that.”
This article has been updated with comment from the White House.
