Democratic women send SOTU message in all white

by | Feb 6, 2019 | Politics

Democratic women send SOTU message in all white
More than 50 Democratic lawmakers lined a Capitol Visitors Center staircase for a group photo before President Trump made his second State of the Union address Tuesday. (Dorothy Mills-Gregg/MNS)

Dozens of female Democratic lawmakers dressed in all white Tuesday during President Trump’s State of the Union address.

The display, meant to show solidarity on women’s issues, evoked the all-white dresses worn by women in the suffragette movement in the early 20th Century.

The powerful political statement, which was amplified by the record number of women in the 116th Congress, stood out during the televised broadcast, with photos of the female lawmakers quickly going viral on social media.

Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., chairwoman of the Democratic Women’s Working Group, organized the response. She asked women on both sides of the aisle to join the display to mark the 127 women elected to the House and Senate and to honor the centennial anniversary of Congress giving women the right to vote.

“Tonight when Trump looks at the Democratic side,” Frankel said before the speech, “he will see a wave of suffragette white.”

Frankel said she hoped to garner attention for the issues important to her fellow lawmakers: equal pay, access to health care, paid family leave and affordable quality child care.

“There’s so many issues I feel like people’s eyes glaze over,” Frankel said. “We want to send the message that we’re fighting for them.”

One of the most memorable moments during the night came when the president, touting his stewardship of the economy, said that women had filled 58 percent of the jobs created in the last year. The remark led Democratic women to stand and cheer.

Trump continued, noting that “exactly one century after Congress passed the Constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote, we also have more women serving in Congress than at any time before,” sparking more celebration.

Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, called that a highlight of the night.

“I think that our numbers were seen and how important this election was. A hundred-and-twenty-seven women now in the House. When I first arrived there were 24,” said Kaptur, who was first elected in 1982.

But Democrats also expressed disappointment that colleagues across the aisle did not join them in wearing white.

Rep. Ann Kuster, D-N.H., said it was troubling that so few of the women in Congress were Republicans — only 21.

“I think we need more women in Congress,” Kuster said after the address, “and we need more women in both parties.

Kuster also took a jab at Trump, saying “he shouldn’t get to take a victory lap on more women in Congress without helping his own party.”

GOP Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming on Twitter criticized the display, saying that the Democratic women were clapping for “themselves.”

Some Democratic men also showed their support during the speech.

Reps. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., and Dean Phillips also wore white jackets, while House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer,D-Md., and Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., sported white ribbons.

“It is about gender,” said Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif.. “It’s about men joining with us to recognize that discrimination against women is a bad thing.”