WATCH LIVE: Governor Spanberger delivers Democratic response to Trump’s State of the Union address

WASHINGTON (AP) — Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger will deliver the Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, just months after her landslide win for an office previously held by a Republican.

Spanberger is expected to speak at 10pm EST on Tuesday, February 24. Watch the live stream in our video player above.

Spanberger, who served three terms in the US House of Representatives, became Virginia’s first female governor earlier this year. She won by a wide margin, campaigning on affordability and cutting costs for families — a message Democrats are now promoting as they seek to reclaim the House and Senate in this year’s midterm elections.

“Governor Spanberger will chart a clear path forward: cutting everyday costs, protecting health care and defending the freedoms that define us as a nation,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

Democrats are trying to confront Trump’s grand program

Spanberger’s rebuttal will come after Trump’s speech to Congress on Tuesday, where he will have a national platform to tout his record and craft the GOP’s message, precious airtime that presidents often put to full use. Trump’s first joint speech in his second term last March lasted for an hour and 40 minutes.

Read more: A growing majority says checks and balances don’t work under Trump

Spanberger would have much less time to refute. The Democratic response last year, delivered by Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, took just over 10 minutes.

The brevity and lack of an audience have made the response to the State of the Union one of the most fraught tasks in politics. For example, Republican Sen. Katie Britt’s 2024 response to President Joe Biden in 2024 was mocked on “Saturday Night Live,” while current Secretary of State Marco Rubio faced ridicule for reaching for a water bottle when delivering the GOP response in 2013. Other responses were quickly forgotten.

Spanberger’s speech won’t be the only Democratic response to Trump on Tuesday night. The leaders also announced that California Sen. Alex Padilla will present the challenge in Spanish.

Some Democratic lawmakers are skipping Trump’s rhetoric altogether and holding their own counter-platforms, including a popular “State of the Union” rally on the National Mall with members of the Senate and House of Representatives.

“President Trump is a disgrace. He is easily the most corrupt president in American history by a wide margin,” Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., wrote on social media. “I’m not going to attend his State of the Union address to listen to him babble and lie.”

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries urged his members to either sit in “silent defiance” during Trump’s speech or stay away, wary of the unrest that has become common in recent presidential addresses.

Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas was removed from the House chamber during Trump’s address to Congress last year when he stood up and began responding to the president. Other Democrats displayed protest signs from their seats.

Spanberger is viewed as an electoral success for Democrats

In announcing Spanberger’s selection to the party, Jeffries said she “embodies the best of America as a mother, community leader and dedicated public servant.”

As a former CIA officer, Spanberger linked her political career to her credentials in public service and national security. She also cast herself as a mother of daughters educated in public schools in Virginia and a veteran of Capitol Hill who has often worked across the aisle.

Since winning the election, she has pledged to work with the president when they are in alliance, but she has also taken more subtle steps in the White House.

On the campaign trail last year, Spanberger spoke out against the White House’s gutting of the civil service, an issue that hit particularly hard in Virginia, home to a large number of federal employees.

“Those of you who have dedicated your lives to public service, you are concerned about an administration that gilds buildings while schools collapse, cracking the social safety net and sowing fear in our communities,” Spanberger said at her inauguration. “Betraying the values ​​of our identity as Americans.”

Last year’s unprecedented government shutdown also impacted the state’s large federal workforce, leaving many employees without pay for weeks.

The federal government is partially shut down again, as Democratic leaders in Congress and the White House negotiate funding for the Department of Homeland Security. The shutdown, which began on Saturday, is likely to extend until Trump’s speech on Tuesday, with no deal in sight.

Diaz reported from Richmond, Virginia.

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