Exclusive – Sen. J.D. Vance Boycotts Biden’s State of the Union Address

U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), a freshman Republican close with former President Donald Trump, is boycotting Democrat President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Thursday evening, Breitbart News has learned exclusively.

Vance told Breitbart News that he does not want to “legitimize” all the lies Biden will tell in the speech with his attendance.

“This state of the union is a farce thanks to Joe Biden’s disgraceful job performance,” Vance told Breitbart News. “Tonight, he’s going to stand before the American people and lie about the state of our economy, the security of our borders, and the safety of our citizens. I’m not interested in legitimizing the president’s lies about the destruction his policies have caused for this country.”

Vance is widely considered to be a possible running mate for Trump in 2024, and his decision to not attend the presidential address in the U.S. House chamber is significant because he’s siding with the millions of Americans who say they do not intend to interrupt their evening to watch Biden speak.

A wide majority of Americans, 63 percent, said according to the latest Economist/YouGov survey they will not watch the speech. So, while official Washington and the establishment media are consumed with Biden’s likely ability to read from a teleprompter for about an hour, most Americans like Vance could care less what the aides who wrote the speech that Biden is going to read wanted him to say.

Biden and his team, meanwhile, are hoping Thursday’s speech helps quell concerns about the president’s mental acuity and physical ability to execute the job of being president. Just weeks ago, Biden’s own Justice Department, through Special Counsel Robert Hur, determined that Biden will not face criminal charges he otherwise would have for the classified documents he had stashed in his garage because Biden is an “elderly man with a poor memory.” Biden’s team hopes he can read the whole speech they wrote for him without issue to try to reassure Americans all is well with him.