Are Democrats on the Trump Payroll?
The question?
Are Democrats secretly on the Trump payroll?
The question occurs after watching the performance of Democrat party leaders and their multiple “responses” — aka clown shows — before, during, and after President Trump’s State of the Union. (RELATED: SOTU 2026: Now There Are Truly Two Americas)
If one is of a certain age (ahem!), there is a distinct memory of what the proper response of the opposition party to a president’s State of the Union address once was. Here’s a sample as listed from a U.S. Senate site titled: “Opposition Responses to the State of the Union Address (1966-Present).”
The first official, televised opposition response to a president’s annual message came in 1966, when Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen (R-IL) and House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford (R-MI) offered a critique of President Lyndon Johnson’s annual message. The practice continued sporadically over the next decade and varied in format. Since 1982, members of the opposition party have provided a response to the annual message, usually in a televised format, that directly follows the president’s speech.
1968: On January 23, from the auditorium of the New Senate Office Building (Dirksen Building), eight Republican senators and nine Republican representatives responded to President Lyndon Johnson’s State of the Union address (which had taken place on January 17) in a televised program.
1970: On February 8 Democratic members of Congress responded to President Richard Nixon’s State of the Union address (which had taken place on January 22) with a 45-minute televised program that included comments from Senators William Proxmire (D-WI), Mike Mansfield (D-MT), Henry “Scoop” Jackson (D-WA), Edmund Muskie (D-ME), Albert Gore (D-TN), Ralph Yarborough (D-TX), and Philip Hart (D-MI), and Representatives Donald Fraser (D-MN), Patsy Mink (D-HI), Carl Albert (D-OK), and John McCormack (D-MA), and informal discussions by senators and representatives with voters in various sections of the country.
1975: Senator Hubert Humphrey (D-MN) and Representative Carl Albert (D-OK) responded to President Gerald R. Ford’s State of the Union address (which took place on January 15) in two separate televised speeches. Albert’s speech aired on Monday, January 20, and Tuesday, January 21, and Humphrey’s speech aired Wednesday, January 22.
1978: On January 26 Senate Minority Leader Howard Baker Jr. , (R-TN) and House Minority Leader John Rhodes (R-AZ) responded to President Jimmy Carter’s State of the Union address (which took place on January 19) in a televised 30-minute question-and-answer program.
1982: On January 26 Democrats responded to President Ronald Reagan’s State of the Union address with a 28-minute prerecorded, documentary-style program, televised on major networks following President Reagan’s address, offering a Democratic review of the speech and man-on-the-street interviews. Participants included California governor Jerry Brown, Senators Donald Riegle (D-MI), James Sasser (D-TN), Robert Byrd (D-WV), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Gary Hart (D-CO), Paul Sarbanes (D-MD), J. Bennett Johnston (D-LA), and Alan Cranston (D-CA); Speaker of the House Thomas P. O’Neill (D-MA); and Representative Albert Gore, Jr., (D-TN).
Notice anything? These are but a handful of similar examples. In those bygone days, the party out-of-power simply selected one or a handful of elected officials to have a very organized, dignified, televised response to the president-of-the-moment’s State of the Union.
There was one exception. In 2009, as President Obama was addressing Congress, the GOP South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson yelled out, “You lie!” As a result, Wilson was officially reprimanded by the House.
There was no circus, let alone multiple circuses, in these responses. Other than that incident with Wilson, heartily condemned by Democrats, there were no members screaming at the president of the moment like fools in the House chamber the other night. And most certainly, there was no one like the lefty Rep. Rashida Tlaib wearing a button that read “F*** Ice.” (This being a family publication, I won’t type in the actual curse word Tlaib had on her distinctly visible button.) (RELATED: President Trump Outs Dems: ‘These People Are Crazy’)
One could go on and on with listings like these of once-upon-a-time State of the Union addresses. But notice anything? There is no mention that, other than the one incident with Congressman Wilson yelling at Obama, angry opposition Members made a point of yelling at the president of the moment, as was true this week of Democrat Representatives Ilhan Omar, who yelled “You’re killing Americans!” at the president, or (again!) Democrat Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who chanted “KKK” during Trump’s speech. And also note? Unlike Wilson, who was officially reprimanded, neither Tlaib nor Omar has met a similar reprimand.
And there was this. The New York Post headlined: “Dozens of Dems plan to skip Trump’s State of the Union as party can’t decide on rival programming.” (RELATED: Who Cares If Democrats Boycott Trump’s SOTU?)
Which is to say, there was a presidential election and House and Senate elections in 2024. Republicans won. The American people, in a free election, voted for them. Be that as it may, these sore-loser Democrats are making a point of ostentatiously giving the middle finger to the voters by their State of the Union conduct. Talk about sore losers!
Lost in all this chaotic nonsense was the person Democrats had selected to actually give the Democrat response. That would be Virginia’s Democrat Governor Abigail Spanberger. Spanberger did what once was seen as the normal way to deliver the opposition party response, which is to say, take the podium, look the television camera in the eye, and give your response. (RELATED: The Abigail Spanberger Bait-and-Switch)
But alas, there was more to the Democrat State of the Union response than Spanberger.
Instead, the other night was a circus of Democrats yelling at the president, waving signs, and acting like a pack of privileged, self-indulgent brats. Clowns. And that was if — if! — they made a point of also showing up for one of the oldest ceremonies in American government to showcase, vividly, their contempt for the president and his supporters. News reports said some 70 Democrats refused to attend: “Shamed of the Union Address; Long list of things Democrats refused to take a stand for.”
Among other things, one can wonder if the Democrats’ response was actually paid for by Trump and the Republicans. Who doubtless were laughing up their sleeves at just how stupid Democrats were, quite voluntarily making themselves look silly in full view of the entire nation.
Some people never learn. Clearly, the Democrats — the clowns — playing games with this State of the Union have not learned.
The 2026 election is on the horizon. And these Democrat refuseniks have given the nation a close-up look at just how irresponsible and immature they can be.
President Trump could not ask for better help in winning in 2026 and exemplifying exactly why Democrats should not be allowed anywhere near having voting control of the House and Senate. It’s almost as if Democrats have a secret wish to do as much damage to their own credibility as possible.
Shocking.
Not.
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