WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, in coordination with Democracy Defenders Action, U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver (NJ-10) delivered a prebuttal address ahead of the President’s State of the Union. In her remarks, McIver spoke about the mounting pressures facing American institutions and the growing strain placed on the rule of law under the Trump administration. She warned that the country is witnessing an unprecedented concentration of executive power and that defending democracy against this overreach is not a partisan project but a constitutional obligation.

In her address, Rep. McIver described a pattern of escalating abuses by the administration over the past year, arguing that her own prosecution is part of a broader strategy to consolidate power and silence critics. She cited the deployment of federal agents into American cities, the politicization of the Department of Justice, and retaliation against public officials who enforce the law or challenge executive authority.

“America can handle dissent. We should welcome it. Democracy requires it,” McIver  said. “If this is not the America we want, then the responsibility to protect and defend our democracy belongs to all of us.”

A highlights video of Rep. McIver’s prebuttal address is available here, and a transcript of her entire speech is here. Below are select quotes from her address:

EXCERPTS FROM REP. MCIVER’S PREBUTTAL ADDRESS

• “Tonight, we can expect Donald Trump to do what he always does: lie. He will tell us not to believe our own eyes. He will tell us we’ve never been safer—even as he sends masked agents to murder Americans and terrorize families. He’s going to tell you life is getting more affordable even as his policies make things more expensive.”

• “Trump has made a lot of promises, but the only thing he’s done is make life worse. He doesn’t work for you because he doesn’t care about you—and that is a democracy problem. Everything Donald Trump does, he does to help himself, his family, and his billionaire buddies.”

• “America can handle dissent. We should welcome it. The conversation makes us stronger. But Donald Trump doesn’t care about America. He cares only about himself. His money. His power.”

• “The administration is testing our humanity. And they are testing the strength of our democracy—pushing, bending, and even breaking the guardrails that hold it together.  The administration weaponizing the Department of Justice against me is just one example. They are doing something that hasn’t happened in our country since the 1700s: trying to put someone who the people elected in jail for using my voice to question his."

• “Watch not just what the president is saying, but what he is doing—think about what he has done. Is this the America you want? Because that is the real measure of the state of our union. And if the answer to that question is no, then the work is ours.  And I know that we can do it together. We must.”

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Democracy Defenders Action brings together a nonpartisan team to work with national, state, and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundations of our democracy.