As opposed to the Republicans that are voiceless impotent weirdos and old women.
I think they made a serious mistake.
That moment belonged to Devarjaye Daniel, not Trump and certainly not the Democrats who chose to hijack it in a futile gesture they knew wouldn’t influence the President in the least.
Sometimes, it’s not all about Trump or politics; sometimes it’s about people, and in this case, the spotlight was on a 13 year old brain cancer survivor.
And sometimes it is about Trump using a child cancer survivor to hold off questions about budget slashing.
“I like children who don’t get cancer.”
That’s lovely that you think that, but if you do not believe that the moment actually belonged to Trump, and that he was using the boy as a political prop, then I have some really awesome real estate in Central Florida which I’d like to sell to you.
Trump does not even like kids; he certainly doesn’t care about other people’s suffering. This was nothing but political theater.
Serious mistake? it won’t change anything, so I have a hard time considering it serious (even if a mistake).
Please tell us how you think the Democrats should have reacted.
Devarjaye Daniel was in the room! He wasn’t on a poster or a commercial; he wasn’t wearing a Make America Great Again hat; he was a child standing right there….and Democrats who sat on their hands could and should have taken two minutes to stand and applaud for him.
Applauding for a 13 year old cancer survivor and helping to make his moment special doesn’t mean you support Trump.
I haven’t watched the video, but I did hear a Dem on the radio assert that they all did applaud. They just didn’t stand. If true, that seems okay to me.
So nearly half the chamber at a joint session of Congress stayed seated during a presidential speech, which nobody’s done before as long as there’s been film or video cameras in Congress. But they looked impotent, while the party that jumped up and clapped for every turd dropped from Trump’s mouth looked powerful?! 
And what do you think Clinton, Gore, or Obama would have done differently? Firstly, they wouldn’t be invited into the room for a joint session of the Congress none of them are members of. We’re presuming the Dems don’t have the spirit of Clinton (which is what, BTW? Being more GOP than the GOP with welfare reform?), Gore, or Obama because … they didn’t DO SOMETHING!!! during Trump’s speech. What would your Clinton-Gore-Obamaesque Dem have done to show sufficient Clinton-Gore-Obamaness? Please identify something they could actually do, and that wouldn’t be easily countered by a creature with no compunction about lying through his teeth?
Leave the chamber en masse? Or not show up in the first place? A chamber aired on national television with nobody but GOPers, MAGAts and sycophants sounds to me like a gift to Trump, not a rebuke. The GOP members would just spread across the chamber, which would look full enough to the casual viewer. Fox wouldn’t bother to mention to its audience that half of that cheering crowd isn’t Dems because the Dems aren’t there. And Trump may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but “what do I say if the Dems all leave during my speech?” is right up his rhetorical alley. “They all left because they couldn’t face the truth of what I was saying!”
Or worse. It’s a joint session of Congress. As I recall, the Constitution requires for legislation (1) a quorum, and (2) a majority vote of each chamber. Three readings, committees, and the like are rules, not Constitutional requirements. A chamber where every GOP member is present and no Dem members are present could pass legislation: quorum plus unanimity of that rump, which would happen with Trump present to see them vote and berate them if they look like they may waver. They would love to have a bunch of unread opaque Project 2025 legislation pass in one fell swoop on national television in Trump’s presence, like Hitler before the rump opposition-less Reichstag.
Doesn’t matter. Presidents have been doing this bullshit pandering during the SotU since at least Reagan. It’s not a surprise it happens every time. It’s not hard to come up with a response that won’t anger voters. It won’t be a deciding factor in the midterms but it’s one more data point in the negative column.
Recent election results seem to indicate that voters are not tallying up positives and negatives and voting accordingly. If they did, Harris would have won 50 states. The country is lost. The voters have spoken. None of this shit matters in the least. All we’re getting now is talking points from each side that won’t move the needle one bit.
I just watched and it appears they were clapping, just not standing. If this turns out true, will OP be along to say the Dems did honor the cancer survivor, but they didn’t honor him quite enough?
Sadly, “clapping without standing” somehow became disrespectful long ago:
Doesn’t negate OP said they weren’t applauding.
quite true:
Not really, because Trump, by removing the USAID and defunding and firing people in medical groups guarantees that more than just one kid will die of cancer thanks to that. Trump, besides being the one doing the hijack, is shooting the hostages.
When that is dismissed and what the democrats did not do is considered a big mistake, it is not the Democrats who have a problem with morals.
I watched the torturously long speech and saw some who were not applauding.
It was obvious that the brain-cancer patient was a stunt. So, even though cancer is sad, you can’t take the bait.
(Although the thing with these stunts is that they are designed to be political bait both ways.)
They were probably all watching CNN.
Stranger