Celebrities and Resistance activists are set to attend a “People’s State of the Union” on Monday night as a form of counter-programming to President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union on Tuesday.
Stars including Mark Ruffalo, Michael Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, Cynthia Nixon, Rosie Perez, Wanda Sykes and Zoe Kravitz will all reportedly be in attendance at Monday’s rally, which will be held in New York City, according to People.
Singer Andra Day and rapper Common will provide the musical entertainment.
The event will reportedly be hosted by left-wing advocacy organizations United We Stand, MoveOn.org, and Stand Up America, as well as representatives from Planned Parenthood, Women’s March, and United We Dream.
Ruffalo — a frequent critic of the Trump administration — described the event as “a celebration of the power and the beauty of this movement, but also of our accomplishments and to focus on what’s to come in the immediate future.”
Mark Ruffalo speaks onstage during the We Stand United NYC Rally outside Trump International Hotel & Tower on January 19, 2017 in New York City. (D Dipasupil/Getty Images)
Actress Cynthia Nixon joins protestors rallying against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)
Michael Moore speaks onstage during the Women’s March on Washington on January 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
Whoopi Goldberg (C) attends the Womens March on New York City on January 20, 2018 in New York City. / AFP PHOTO / KENA BETANCUR/AFP/Getty Images
“In essence, it’s a better reflection of our state of the union based on a more populist point of view, based on the people’s point of view,” Ruffalo told People. “I think it’s important because we have a president who has a difficult time with the truth, who has a radical, divisive agenda, and spends an enormous amount of time focusing on the negative and hopelessness and despair.”
The “People’s State of the Union” event comes just after dozens of celebrities joined anti-Trump Women’s March protests in major cities across the country this month on the first anniversary of the president’s inauguration.
Actresses Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eva Longoria, and America Ferrera headlined the Women’s March in Los Angeles, while Amy Schumer and singer Halsey marched in New York City and Jane Fonda and Nick Offerman addressed demonstrators in Park City, Utah, at the Sundance Film Festival.
President Trump is expected to deliver his first State of the Union address on Tuesday, January 30.
Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum
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