Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) said she will skip President Biden's State of the Union on Tuesday, saying she does not want to "show up to and listen to him continue to lie."
In a statement released Monday by her office, Miller said she is boycotting the president’s speech over his failure to properly address recent issues including the national security risk posed by the Chinese balloon and the discovery of classified documents in his home and office.
"Joe Biden’s presidency has been filled with lie after lie, especially lies about the border being secure, inflation being temporary, and the DOJ targeting parents for attending school board meetings," she said. "I will not be attending Biden’s State of the Union to listen to him lie about the damage he has caused to our country while the left-wing media and members of Congress applaud his lies.”
Miller also lamented former Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripping up President Trump's third State of the Union address in 2020, "which celebrated a secure border, support for our military, and American energy independence."
In an interview with Breitbart News over the weekend, Miller also accused Biden of lying about the southern border being secure and the impact of his policies on energy prices.
“I mean, I could go on and on with his lies,” she added.
Even though she won’t attend, she’s invited a guest.
In the statement released by her office, Miller announced that should will be bringing Retired Illinois Air Force Colonel (Ret.) Mark A. Hurley as her guest, who left the military over Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine.
“Biden used the COVID vaccine mandate as a political purge to force the best and the brightest out of our military, and Biden has still failed to provide accountability for his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan more than two years ago,” Miller said.
Hurley called the invite an “honor” and praised Miller and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for their efforts to end the COVID military vaccine requirement.
“These legislative leaders continued the battle we did not have time to complete through our normal chain of command,” Hurley said. “We are truly grateful for the thousands of military careers they have saved.”
Miller will likely not be alone in her decision, as many lawmakers in the past have also skipped a president's State of the Union to project partisan disgust.
In 1999, several GOP lawmakers boycotted then-President Clinton's address while the Senate was still conducting an impeachment trial over his affair with a White House intern. More recently, during former President Trump’s time in office, several Democratic lawmakers chose to boycott his State of the Union addresses, as well as his inauguration.
Updated at 6:09 p.m.