Rep. Jasmine Crockett explains how SOTU Resist came together, fell apart
Inside scoop on why Crockett thinks leadership changes could help Democrats communicate better with supporters
I’ve read on more than one occasion from left-leaning voters who thought Democrats in Congress holding up signs during the 2025 State of the Union (SOTU) address was lame. I disagree. Anyone who has heard Donald Trump ramble on at length about his crowd size and his obsession with fandom would know that seeing anybody in a crowd holding up signs with messages like, “This is not normal,” “Musk steals,” “Protect veterans,” “False” and “Save Medicaid” would rattle his cage.
As overused as I think the descriptor “narcissist” is, Trump is indeed that (on top of desperately being a copycat dictator). Anybody who does not nod and smile at his “because I said so” demands is going to get under a narcissistic leader’s skin. Anybody who doesn’t think every single statement out of his mouth is “great” will be seen as a “troublemaker.”
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So those quiet signs? For someone who compares himself to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., those signs and Rep. Al Green speaking up against Medicaid were as memorable to me as Rakeem Jones getting punched by John Franklin McGraw in Fayetteville, North Carolina, in 2016. While the average person, who isn’t rambling for nine straight years about his crowd size, would think circle signs and walking out during speech is not a big deal, he does. The last thing Trump was thinking about during the SOTU was a game of BINGO (as a few social media users joked). And Rep. Jasmine Crockett knew this too.
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The only difference between past SOTU speeches and now is the 10 Democrats who voted to censure Rep. Green seemed to have temporary amnesia when Rep. Joe Wilson (“You lie”) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (“Say her name!” while wearing MAGA attire) interrupted former Presidents Barack H. Obama and Joe Biden — and didn’t give a damn about health insurance or senior citizens while doing it.
10 House Democrats voted “yea” to censure Rep. Al Green in 2025
Ami Bera (California)
Ed Case (Hawaii)
Jim Costa (California)
Laura Gillen (New York)
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Washington)
Jim Himes (Connecticut)
Chrissy Houlahan (Pennsylvania)
Marcy Kaptur (Ohio)
Jared Moskowitz (Florida)
Tom Suozzi (New York)
12 House Democrats voted “yea” to NOT censure Rep. Wilson in 2009
Michael Arcuri (New York)
William Delahunt (Massachusetts)
Gabrielle Giffords (Arizona)
Maurice Hinchey (New York)
Paul Hodes (New Hampshire)
Dennis Kucinich (Ohio)
Dan Maffei (New York)
Eric Massa (New York)
Jim McDermott (Washington)
Gwen Moore (Wisconsin) (the only one of these 12 still in Congress, who also voted “nay” to censuring Green)
Gene Taylor (Mississippi)
Harry Teague (New Mexico)
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The vote to censure Rep. Greene for interrupting former President Joe Biden? It was introduced but no resolution nor votes were made. Interestingly, Greene wasted no time in speaking up and voting “yea” against Rep. Green for doing the same thing. (Note: A second Congressman with the last name “Green,” who is a Republican named Mark Green from Tennessee, also voted “yea.” This is not to be confused with Al Green from Texas, who voted “present.”)
Recommended Read: “'Segregated facilities' are no longer explicitly banned in federal contracts”
SOTU T-Shirt unveiling plan with Democrat Resisters
I was disappointed that Crockett’s plan to show off the shirts that several Democrat Resisters were wearing didn’t come together. I had no clue that her shirt had former presidential candidate Shirley Chisholm on it. It’s unclear if photographers and videographers were instructed to not film the Democrats who left after 20 minutes of the SOTU speech, but this would’ve been an impactful photograph. We have only seen recognizable images of Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, who wore a T-shirt with the message “No Kings Live Here” on the back.
In The 19th interview above, Crockett explains how their T-shirt plan came together (and didn’t quite hit its mark), why she thinks the Democrats need new (or more focused) leadership, her views on the future of Congress, her current relationship with Harris, how she became the national co-chair of Harris campaign before her DNC speech, and a much clearer explanation for why it always seems like she and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are protesting alone. Watch asap!
Did you enjoy this post? You’re also welcome to check out my Substack columns “Black Girl In a Doggone World,” “BlackTechLogy,” “Homegrown Tales,” “I Do See Color,” “One Black Woman’s Vote” and “Window Shopping” too. Thanks for reading!