Depending on how you viewed the 2026 State of the Union address, you may not have been able to keep track of all the times Congressional members stood up for the President’s remarks. At the same time, you may not have counted how many times the democrats stayed glued to their seats. You probably didn’t need to keep a tally, because there was one moment that truly stood out – when the President challenged every member of Congress to rise if they believed “their first duty to the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.”
On a broad level, it should have been obvious to all of those in the Congressional ranks what to do at that moment. Even if one can try to explain why sitting is justified based on case-specific particulars … if you have to explain why you’re sitting down, it looks bad. And as they say in politics, if you’re explaining…you’re losing.
With that in mind, the most poignant moment in the speech was the focus on Anya Zarutska, the grieving mother of Iryna Zarutska. You may recall, Iryna Zarutska was the young woman wantonly murdered last year on the train in Charlotte by a repeat offender with a criminal past. It was the type of tragedy that reminds us how unpredictable and unfair life can be, for Iryna fled the brutality of war in Ukraine only to lose her life to the brutality of crime here in the U.S. It was a sad and heart-sinking turn of events that leaves us shaking our heads and asking, “Why?” Of course, it was all captured by the train’s security cameras…this dual-edge technology that can help to render justice while treating us to the harsh reality of why justice needs to be rendered.
And here was Anya, invited to the nation’s capital for the State of the Union, to hear the President of the United States honor the memory of her daughter. The core message of Iryna’s passing is, essentially, that it didn’t have to happen. When all in attendance should have stood up for Anya and Iryna, roughly half the chamber’s elected members chose to sit…cruelly defiant in the face of anguish. One can only imagine how hardened Anya already was to the callous whiplash of life, her mettle now further tempered by the ugly truth displayed in the House chamber below. How can the same people stand and applaud Olympic champions while chanting “USA” – but refuse to rise in respect for a sobbing parent in the gallery? Perhaps it is just easier to clap and cheer for the happy.
There are several stunning ironies with Iryna Zarutska’s story and the shameful, obstinate behavior of most democrats at the State of the Union. The first – for all of their virtue posturing about the plight, welfare and interests of immigrants, refugees, and asylees, they did not stand for Iryna…a refugee. The second – for all of their grandstanding on Ukraine, they did not stand for Iryna…a Ukrainian. And finally – for all their campaigning about violence against women, they did not stand for Iryna…a woman. She was the precise human embodiment of the kind of people democrats constantly claim to support. Henceforth, it would not be unsurprising if more Americans become increasingly skeptical of those claims.
Stunningly, only moments before, during remarks about Charlie Kirk, the Democrats largely stood and clapped when the President affirmed that, “We must totally reject political violence of any kind.” So, they all stand in unison for each other when it comes to the topic of political violence…but they can’t stand for Iryna or Anya Zarutsky? Such behaviors only reinforce notions among the American public about the real nature of powerful people in Washington DC, what their real agenda is, and who they actually care about.
Frankly, it was the most indefensible moment of the evening for the vast majority of the Congressional democrats. As President Trump asked, in a moment of ad-libbed sincerity – almost aghast as he uttered the words – “how do you not stand?” Truly, how do you not?
And while Americans expect politicians to viciously snipe and punch at one another…Iryna and Anya are not public figures. Why do they deserve to be shunned and discarded? For all of the lecturing we hear from democrats about political decency and decorum, where was their decency to stand for Anya and Iryna?
Anya Zarutsky’s presence at the State of the Union presented an opportunity for elected representatives and Senators to ignore their petty inclinations and – even if for a fleeting, flashing second for the cameras – appeal to the better angels of our nature. But it is abundantly clear that about half of America’s Congressional members must learn to stand before they could ever possibly fly.
Connor Martin is a U.S. Marine and covers national policy issues.