Senator John Fetterman slammed his fellow Democrats for what he described as blatant disrespect during President Trump’s address, after several Congressional Democrats declined to stand or applaud two of the president’s guests: Erika Kirk, widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and the mother of Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee who was killed while walking home from work in North Carolina last August.
What a moment with President Trump honoring Charlie Kirk and his widow, Erika Kirk.
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) February 25, 2026
One of the few times Democrats stood and cheered when Trump said "[i]n Charlie's memory, we must all come together to reaffirm that America is one nation under god, and we must totally reject… pic.twitter.com/SL7T5G5Zv1
Erika Kirk comforted the family of Iryna Zarutska at the State of the Union. Democrats gave them the cold shoulder. pic.twitter.com/Ld7QodQgEa
— Ian Miles Cheong (@ianmiles) February 25, 2026
"The rest of the people in my party wouldn't stand up and clap for her," Fetterman said.
"I stood up and I clapped to recognize the family that lost their daughter, the Ukrainian girl that was stabbed to death in North Carolina. And I stood up and I clapped for that political prisoner from Venezuela. You know, how you can you not celebrate those kinds of things? And now I also celebrated all the veterans that were in the audience as well, too."
And even more the political things like, like Erika Kirk, I stood up, and I clapped for her as well, too. Now, here, you know, can't we just be more kind to a widow? I mean, we just shouldn't be that long ago that a widow, you know, with young children has her husband murdered, you know, how we can't just acknowledge that as well.
The senator added that he will always stand and applaud when a president does something good for the country, regardless of party differences. He then went on to take a swipe at some of his fellow Democrats, saying that, despite political disagreements, that doesn't warrant disrupting the president's State of the Union address.
"So I'm always going to stand up and clap for things that I agree with, like striking in the Iranian, sites," Fetterman added. "Now for me, I never worry about who's standing up or clapping. If I see it, I'm going to. If I don't agree with it or whatever, I'm certainly not going to yell and scream and disrupt the whole thing."
🚨 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
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) February 25, 2026
"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
Editor's Note: With President Trump back in the White House, the state of our Union is strong once again.
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