Vice President JD Vance slammed congressional Democrats as cowards for refusing to stand during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address when he declared that the government’s top priority should be protecting American citizens over illegal aliens.
During his speech on Tuesday night, Trump stated, “The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens,” and urged lawmakers to stand if they agreed.
The Democrats remained firmly seated.
“You should be ashamed of yourselves for not standing up,” Trump declared.
In an interview on Fox News’ America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer the following morning, Vance tore into the Democrats’ response, calling it “cowardice” and a “sad commentary on the Democratic Party.”
“Something that I saw that probably most TV viewers didn’t see was really the cowardice, because there were a few Democrats who sort of politely clapped. They didn’t want to stand up — I guess maybe they were worried about being primaried by the far left fringe of their party.”
Vance asserted, “The idea that the American government should stand for American citizens, not illegal aliens — that shouldn’t be controversial, but apparently it was to the Democrats.”
Vance further criticized Democrats for lacking conviction, noting that they glanced at colleagues for cues rather than standing on principle.
“But they were all looking around. They weren’t actually saying, ‘You know what, I will stand and support this because it is a common-sense, obvious statement.’ They were all looking around for cues from their colleagues because they didn’t have the courage to stand on their own,” Vance continued.
“That, more than anything, Bill, is the saddest commentary on the Democratic Party, that not only will they not stand for the idea that Americans should come first, they won’t even have the courage of their convictions. They lean on the person to the left and their right, rather than actually having some conviction.”
WATCH:
BREAKING: JD Vance reveals he watched Congressional Democrats COWARDLY look around for cues about whether to stand up and clap for common sense statements like — “Americans before illegals”
“The COWARDICE. A few Democrats politely clapped, were WORRIED about being primaried!”… pic.twitter.com/a4HD1BAReh
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) February 25, 2026
Democrat Sen. John Fetterman was the lone Democrat to join the criticism, blasting his party for their behavior during the speech.
“It’s just disappointing, honestly,” Fetterman said during an interview on the same show.
“The constant kinds of yelling and screaming and, and you know, holding up signs and doing all of these things — I don’t care if it’s a Republican or Democrat as the president, just don’t do that. Respect the office,” Fetterman told Hemmer.
Fetterman also criticized the dancing frogs.
Democrats Stage Bizarre ‘State of the Swamp’ Circus with Inflatable Frogs to Counter Trump’s SOTU (VIDEO)
“As a Democrat, I don’t think like dancing frogs moves the ball for us as a party either,” Fetterman said.
WATCH:
🚨 BREAKING: Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) says he was one of the Democrats to stand up for Iryna Zarutska and Erika Kirk at Trump’s State of the Union
“Even Erika Kirk. Can’t we just be more kind to a WIDOW? How can’t we acknowledge that?” 💯
“I clapped for the family that lost… pic.twitter.com/VMCMIBY8VC
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) February 25, 2026
The post WATCH: JD Vance Rips Shameful Democrats for Not Standing During Trump’s SOTU Call to Protect Americans First, ‘Sad Commentary on the Party!’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.