Rep. Addison McDowell, R-N.C., told Newsmax that he hasn't heard of any Democrat plan to disrupt President Donald Trump's joint address to Congress on Tuesday night, but it would be "childish behavior" if his colleagues across the aisle decided to do so.
"I haven't heard anything about that, but look, if they do, what it will signify to the American people is that they have not heard the message that they sent us in November, which was a mandate to secure the border, to fix the economy that [former President] Joe Biden broke," McDowell said Tuesday on "National Report."
"If Democrats want to highlight to the American people that they've not learned their lesson and that they don't agree with the 80% of Americans that feel a certain way, and they want to fight for the 20%, that's fine with me," he said. "Let them. But it would be an incredible embarrassment for that party to disrupt the president's speech in the chamber. That's just childish behavior."
In the first joint congressional address of his second term, Trump vowed to "tell it like it is" and is expected to promise a "renewal of the American dream." The speech will reportedly cover four areas: his second administration's achievements so far at home and overseas, the economy, a call for Congress to pass border funding, and Trump's plans for "peace around the globe."
McDowell said he's expecting Trump's address to highlight "exactly what we're seeing and that's that the Democrats have not learned their lesson."
"If they had, they would not be committed to voting against a common-sense agenda," he said. "Let's just look at the border. The border is something that the majority of Americans want us to get under control after Joe Biden left it wide open and created all of these issues. But what you see is Democrats banding together because they don't want to get with President Trump and with these common-sense issues."
The North Carolina lawmaker pointed to the Laken Riley Act – the first bill that Trump signed into law since returning to office – as an example of a measure that was supported by Republicans, but not by the majority of Democrats. The legislation was named after the Georgia nursing student murdered by a Venezuelan national in the country illegally.
"Closing our southern border, securing our southern border, and getting fentanyl off our streets is important to Republicans, but it's not important to Democrats," McDowell said.
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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