Dear MoveOn member,
Let's be real: There is absolutely no reason to watch Donald Trump's State of the Union (SOTU) address on Tuesday.
Last year, many tried to resist from within the speech itself. Representative Al Green was ejected from the chamber for yelling at Trump.1 And honestly, there is no way to confront Trump from the chamber without him gaslighting the public about it.
So this year, we are going to hit him in his most vulnerable spot—the size of his audience.
MoveOn is harnessing the outrage and need for change we are feeling into The People's State of the Union, an event on the National Mall with dozens of Democratic and progressive champions in Congress boycotting Trump's formal address, allies and partners, and the very people who have been hurt and negatively impacted by the Trump administration!
The People's SOTU will be hosted by Joy Reid and Katie Phang. And thanks to our media partners at MeidasTouch, the event will be broadcast live for anyone who wants to hear the truth about what's actually happening in America.
Cassandra, this alternate SOTU is already being covered by The New York Times and other outlets, but if we want to get the kind of viewership that will meaningfully cut into Trump's ratings and make a huge impact on Tuesday, we have to publicize this special event far and wide. We have just days to pour as many resources as possible into getting The People's SOTU into the public eye.
Can you chip in $9 today to help us pull off The People's State of the Union and make this boycott's success impossible to ignore? (If you have saved your payment information with ActBlue, your donation will go straight through.)
We know that Trump is going to spread division and lie through his teeth throughout his entire speech. In his last SOTU, he lied dozens of times about everything from immigration to his tariff plans to Russia.2 In his first administration, The Washington Post reported he lied at a rate of 21 times a day.3
Trump is going to use the SOTU to take a victory lap. He won't answer for the violence of his ICE raids, for young children in detention centers or the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.4 He won't address how his tariffs are costing each of us an extra $1,300 this year that we shouldn't be paying or why marketplace health insurance plans have doubled in cost.5 And he won't admit that his voter ID law that he is pushing through Congress is designed to suppress millions of votes.6
But we will.
Along with senators, including Chris Murphy and Chris Van Hollen, Representatives Pramila Jayapal and Greg Casar, and dozens of other legislators and movement leaders, we will expose the truth about the Trump administration.
And more than that, our alternate State of the Union will present an alternate vision of America, one with an economy that works for the people rather than corporations, with a health care system that doesn't bankrupt us, with leadership that respects the Constitution rather than making a mockery of it.
Will you donate $9 today to power The People's State of the Union? (If you have saved your payment information with ActBlue, your donation will go straight through.)
In just the next few days, with your help, we are going to make sure as many people as possible know they have a choice when it comes to the narrative they want to hear Tuesday night.
The Trump administration is already furious, saying that MoveOn and progressive champions in Congress are "refus[ing] to celebrate and honor" Trump's speech.7
We can do more than that. With enough viewers, we can make it so every single news story about the State of the Union has to mention the boycott.
We'll make it so the images from our event compete with images from inside the chamber. We'll show that we aren't just going along with Trump's agenda as if everything is normal.
Mounting an event like this on one of the highest-stakes media nights of the year takes a lot of planning and resources. We need to coordinate with members of Congress, partners, the media, and creators; hire and ensure security; organize volunteer trainings; publicize our event; rent sound, lighting, and satellite equipment; fund our livestream technology; and more. Your contribution right now will help us build the production infrastructure and amplify this message across digital platforms where millions of people will see it.
Rush an emergency donation of $9 to MoveOn now and help power The People's State of the Union! (If you have saved your payment information with ActBlue, your donation will go straight through.)
Thanks for all you do.
–Nakia, Amy, Ankur, Alexis, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Democrats Plan to Counter Trump's Speech to Congress With Rally," The New York Times, February 18, 2026
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/us/politics/democrats-trump-congress.html
2. "Fact-checking Trump's 2025 address to Congress," PBS News, March 5, 2025
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fact-checking-trumps-2025-address-to-congress
3. "Trump's address to Congress was built on a foundation of lies," MS Now, March 5, 2025
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-speech-fact-check-joint-address-congress-lies-rcna194848
4. "'Why Is This Happening to Us?' Daily Number of Kids in ICE Detention Jumps 6x Under Trump," The Marshall Project, January 29, 2026
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2026/01/29/ice-kids-in-detention-numbers
5. "Here's how much tariffs are costing Californians, according to experts," San Francisco Chronicle, February 19, 2026
https://www.sfchronicle.com/personal-finance/article/california-tariffs-cost-household-impact-21350799.php
6. "New SAVE Act Bills Would Still Block Millions of Americans From Voting," Brennan Center for Justice, February 9, 2026
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/new-save-act-bills-would-still-block-millions-americans-voting
7. "How Democrats Are Planning to Protest Trump's State of the Union," Time, February 18, 2026
https://time.com/7379577/trump-state-of-the-union-democrats-protest-rally/
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