How Can You Not Stand?

No one expects a standing ovation for a president’s policies. That’s politics. That’s normal. That’s America.

But when members of Congress refuse to stand for grieving parents, traumatized children, fallen heroes, and courageous law enforcement officers, something has gone deeply wrong in our public life.

That isn’t protest.

That isn’t principle.

That is moral collapse.

And it was on full display during President Trump’s State of the Union Address.

During the speech, time and again, the President paused to honor Americans whose stories should have transcended party. Families who lost loved ones to violent crime. Children who survived unspeakable trauma. Police officers who ran toward danger. Victims who deserved at least a moment of shared respect.

Republicans stood.

Many Democrats did not.

This was not accidental. It was coordinated.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries had reportedly encouraged members to attend in “silent defiance” or skip the speech entirely. Some took him up on it. Others stayed in their seats, arms crossed, faces hardened, even as heartbreaking stories were told from the podium.

Think about what that means.

Imagine being a grieving parent in the gallery. Imagine having your child’s name spoken before the nation. Imagine hoping — just hoping — that for thirty seconds, politics could be set aside.

And instead, half the chamber sits in icy protest.

President Trump noticed.

At one point, after honoring a family devastated by crime, he looked directly at the silent side of the aisle and asked, “How do you not stand?”

It was not a rhetorical flourish. It was an honest question.

Some Democrats skipped the address altogether, choosing to participate in alternative events framed as a “People’s State of the Union.” Others protested inside the chamber. Congressman Al Green was removed after disrupting proceedings. But the most striking protest was the quiet one: the refusal to rise when basic human decency demanded it.

This is not about applauding Trump.

It is about honoring Americans.

You don’t stand for the president.

You stand for the victim.

You stand for the hero.

You stand for the child.

You stand for the family.

Or at least you used to.

In previous eras, members of Congress understood that there were moments above politics. Presidents from both parties brought guests to the gallery. Lawmakers stood. They applauded. They disagreed later.

That tradition is gone.

It has been replaced by performative bitterness.

Some defenders claim that Democrats were protesting policy. That they were signaling opposition to border enforcement, law enforcement, or immigration measures.

That excuse collapses instantly.

A child who survived violence is not a policy.

A murdered parent is not legislation.

A fallen officer is not a bill.

Those are human beings.

And when you refuse to acknowledge them because the wrong president is speaking, you reveal your priorities.

This isn’t new.

In recent years, Democrats have refused to applaud moments honoring veterans, victims of terrorism, and families devastated by crime. They have turned shared grief into partisan theater. Each time, the justification is the same: “We don’t support his agenda.”

That is moral evasion.

President Trump’s address emphasized law and order, border security, economic opportunity, and public safety. But he also emphasized compassion. He elevated ordinary Americans whose lives reflected courage and perseverance.

Yet many Democrats responded with silence.

Not respectful silence.

Hostile silence.

There is a difference.

The message was unmistakable: we will not validate anything associated with this president — not even innocent people.

That is not political sophistication.

That is cruelty.

And it is why so many Americans no longer recognize the Democratic Party they once knew.

It used to be the party that spoke about empathy.

Now it struggles to show it.

It used to claim the moral high ground.

Now it sits on its hands when morality is on display.

It used to champion working families.

Now it treats their tragedies as props in ideological warfare.

President Trump, to his credit, refused to let the moment pass.

By calling out the silence, he forced the country to see what was happening in real time. He didn’t shame individuals. He exposed a culture.

A culture where outrage matters more than honor.

Where posture matters more than people.

Where hatred of one man outweighs love of country.

This is not healthy.

A republic cannot function when half its leaders refuse to acknowledge shared humanity.

Disagreement is necessary.

Debate is essential.

Opposition is healthy.

But contempt is corrosive.

And that is what we witnessed.

When lawmakers cannot stand for victims and heroes, they are no longer representing the best of America. They are modeling its worst instincts.