On Feb. 24, President Donald Trump delivered the first State of the Union address of his second term in office. Political leaders across Rhode Island had mixed reactions to Trump’s record-length speech.
Three of Rhode Island’s four congressional representatives missed the president’s address, with two of them purposely choosing not to attend.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) was Rhode Island’s only congressional delegation member to attend the speech in Washington. Reed’s communications director, Chip Unruh, wrote in an email to The Herald that the speech was “out of touch with what Americans are experiencing” and “largely ignored their concerns.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Representative Seth Magaziner ’06 (D-R.I. 2) had intended to attend the address, but his flight was cancelled following the record-breaking blizzard in Rhode Island.
Magaziner believes the address “failed to lay out a vision to help working people in America,” his communications director, Noah Boucher, wrote in an email to The Herald. Magaziner also critiqued the speech for “doubling down on failed policies,” such as the Trump administration’s tariff increases and cuts to health care. These policies “only raise costs for everyday Americans,” Boucher wrote.
“In just under two hours of rambling, the President never once spoke to the reality facing working Rhode Islanders,” Rep. Gabe Amo (D-R.I. 1) wrote in a press release following the address.
In February, Amo traveled across Rhode Island as part of what he called the “Real State of the Union,” where he spoke to “Rhode Islanders hurt by Trump.”
While Amo did not attend the address, he invited Erin Spaulding, executive director for Connecting for Children and Families in Woonsocket, to listen to Trump’s speech. The Woonsocket nonprofit focuses on providing programming and educational opportunities for children and families.
The other three members also invited R.I. figures as their guests to the address.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) purposely did not attend the address, but he invited Thomas Kilday — an apprentice electrician on Revolution Wind’s offshore wind farm project, which the Trump administration has paused twice — to attend.
Magaziner invited Lynn Blais, the president of United Nurses and Allied Professionals, in order to “draw attention to the devastating impacts of Trump and Republicans’ cuts to health care,” Boucher wrote.
Reed’s guest was R.I. Secretary of State Gregg Amore. Amore is the defendant in a lawsuit from the Trump administration, which is seeking the state’s voter registration list.
But the blizzard prevented both Blais and Amore from attending the address, according to Boucher and Unruh.
At the time of the address, Smiley was focused on clean-up efforts from the blizzard, city spokesperson Josh Estrella wrote in a message to The Herald.
Some R.I. leaders offered praise for the address.
“It was wonderful to see some of the successes achieved in the past year,” Senate Minority Leader Jessica de la Cruz (R-North Smithfield, Burrillville, Glocester) wrote in a statement sent to The Herald.
De la Cruz noted that she “loved seeing the recognition” for the U.S. men’s and women’s hockey teams, both of which won gold medals at the Winter Olympics last month.
Although Magaziner critiqued the president’s speech, in a video posted to Facebook following the event, he noted that he, too, cheered for the hockey teams, as well as the “military heroes that were honored” during the address. He said he also appreciated the “shoutout” for the act banning members of Congress from trading stocks, which he has advocated for in the past.
Several state leaders declined to comment, including R.I. House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi (D-Warwick) and the Rhode Island House Republican Caucus.
Lev Kotler-Berkowitz is a senior staff writer covering city and state politics. He is from the Boston area and is a junior concentrating in Political Science and Economics. In his free time, Lev can be found playing baseball or running around with his dog.
