{"id":2573852,"date":"2026-02-26T08:33:01","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T13:33:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-jd-vance-says-dems-showed-cowardice-during-trumps-sotu-address-and-lack-conviction\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T08:35:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T13:35:34","slug":"watch-jd-vance-says-dems-showed-cowardice-during-trumps-sotu-address-and-lack-conviction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-jd-vance-says-dems-showed-cowardice-during-trumps-sotu-address-and-lack-conviction\/","title":{"rendered":"WATCH: JD Vance Says Dems Showed &#8216;Cowardice&#8217; During Trump&#8217;s SOTU Address And Lack &#8216;Conviction&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwatch-jd-vance-says-dems-showed-cowardice-during-trumps-sotu-address-and-lack-conviction%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2573852&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The piece reports on Vice President J.D. vance\u2019s critique of Democrats during President Trump\u2019s State of the Union address, focusing on their refusal too stand when Trump urged lawmakers to reaffirm a key principle: that the government\u2019s first duty is to protect American citizens, not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nolte-republican-mayor-elected-in-county-biden-won-by-38-points\/\" title=\"Nolte: Republican Mayor Elected in County Biden Won by 38 Points\">prioritize <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-urge-americans-to-stay-home-in-january-knowing-no-one-would-show-up-for-a-stolen-inauguration\/\" title=\"... Urge Americans to Stay Home in January Knowing No One Would Show Up for a Stolen Inauguration\">illegal aliens<\/a><\/a>.It quotes Trump\u2019s remarks from Roll Call and notes that, after Democrats remained seated, he rebuked them for their stance.Vance describes the moment as a sad commentary on the democratic Party and argues they wavered between conviction and seeking political cues from colleagues. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-washington-examiner-reports-on-what-caused-bidens-campaign-to-fail\/\" title=\"The Washington Examiner reports on what caused Biden&#039;s campaign to fail\">article includes reactions<\/a> from Republicans and conservative commentators, including Tim Murtaugh of Fox News and a post by Steven Cheung praising trump, and also remarks from Lora Ries of the Heritage Foundation about Democrats\u2019 priorities. It also features multimedia elements and social-media embeds connected to the broader political discourse surrounding immigration policy and election integrity.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Cowardice ran rampant among Democrats during President Donald Trump&rsquo;s State of the Union address on Tuesday night, according to Vice President J.D. Vance.<\/p>\n<p>During a Wednesday interview, Vance focused on one section of Trump&rsquo;s address where he asked legislators committed to America to rise.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;One of the great things about the State of the Union is how it gives Americans the chance to see clearly what their representatives really believe,&rdquo; Trump said, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/rollcall.com\/factbase\/sotu\/transcript\/trump-sotu-20260224\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Roll Call<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;So, tonight, I&rsquo;m inviting every legislator to join with my administration in reaffirming a fundamental principle. If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support: &lsquo;The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens,&rsquo;&rdquo; Trump added.<\/p>\n<p>After Democrats refused to stand, Trump rebuked them, saying, &ldquo;Isn&rsquo;t that a shame? You should be ashamed of yourself, not standing up. You should be ashamed of yourself.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadAnyclip() { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst container=document.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!container) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=\"https:\/\/player.anyclip.com\/anyclip-widget\/lre-widget\/prod\/v1\/src\/lre.js\"; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"pubname\", \"westernjournalcom\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"widgetname\", \"001w000001jULVcAAO_M12924\");  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ append inside the container so player shows in correct spot \t\t\t\t\t\tcontainer.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadAnyclip(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #anyclipvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#anyclipvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Vance said that the moment was &ldquo;a sad commentary&hellip; on the Democratic Party.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>He noted that Democrats rejected &ldquo;the idea the American government should stand for American citizens, not illegal aliens &mdash; that shouldn&rsquo;t be controversial, but apparently it was to the Democrats,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-embed\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"'COWARDICE': JD Vance reveals what SOTU viewers couldn't see\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VJ2tU_GOpnw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&ldquo;Something that I saw that probably most TV viewers didn&rsquo;t see was really the cowardice, because there were a few Democrats who sort of politely clapped,&rdquo; Vance added.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They didn&rsquo;t want to stand up &mdash; I guess maybe they were worried about being primaried by the far left fringe of their party &mdash; ut they were all looking around,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They weren&rsquo;t actually saying, &lsquo;You know what, I&rsquo;m gonna stand and support this because it is a common sense, obvious statement.&rsquo; They were all looking around for cues from their colleagues because they didn&rsquo;t have the courage to stand on their own,&rdquo; Vance noted.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-vice-president-mike-pence-joins-the-heritage-foundation\/\" title=\"Former ... Mike Pence Joins The Heritage Foundation\">vice president added<\/a> that &ldquo;not only will they not stand for the idea that Americans should come first, they won&rsquo;t even have the courage of their convictions.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They lean on the person to the left and their right, rather than actually have some conviction. That is unfortunately what&rsquo;s true about Democrats in Washington today,&rdquo; he continued.<\/p>\n<p>Former Trump adviser Tim Murtaugh told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/democrats-big-misfire-state-union-has-gop-strategists-salivating-huge-moment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fox News<\/a> that &ldquo;it was a huge moment because it forced the Democrats to self-identify as radicals who would rather defend illegal aliens over law-abiding American citizens.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There could be no clearer illustration that Democrats root against America when they&rsquo;re not in power,&rdquo; he said, adding that Democrats are &ldquo;embarrassed to be Americans, whether they&rsquo;re in power or not.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In their mind, good news for Americans is bad news for Democrats,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;They aren&rsquo;t going to solve any problems &mdash; they&rsquo;re only going to add to them &mdash; and the American people got to see them proclaim it themselves.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The Democrats were out-classed, out-matched, and out-played. They ran into a political buzzsaw in President Trump that showed he&rsquo;s playing chess while others are <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >playing tic tac toe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Checkmate &#9989; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ZeDMn68Pgh\">https:\/\/t.co\/ZeDMn68Pgh<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Steven Cheung (@StevenCheung47) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/StevenCheung47\/status\/2026515231766172114?\">February 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>  Lora Ries, director of the Border Security and Immigration Center at the Heritage Foundation, said that Democratic lawmakers &ldquo;clearly showed America they believe their number one duty is to protect illegal aliens, not American citizens.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Hopefully, that opened many more eyes to see that Democrats, to hang onto power, rely on illegal aliens (and other noncitizens) to illegally vote, have their ballots harvested, and for their headcount in the U.S. Census to maintain their congressional districts and the number of presidential electoral votes in their states,&rdquo; she said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This is why Democrats refuse to vote for proof of citizenship during voter registration or proof of ID when voting.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8211; The piece reports that Vice President J.D. Vance accused Democrats of cowardice during Donald Trump\u2019s State of the Union, focusing on the moment Trump urged lawmakers to stand if they agreed with a principle he cited about prioritizing American citizens.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Trump asked legislators to reaffirm that the government\u2019s first duty is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens; Democrats did not stand, and Trump publicly reproached them for not doing so.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Vance characterized Democrats as hesitant and swayed by others\u2019 cues, suggesting they avoided standing out of fear of primaries from the far left and a lack of conviction to back the idea that Americans should come first.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Tim Murtaugh, a former Trump adviser, said the moment forced Democrats to reveal themselves as radicals who would defend undocumented immigrants over law\u2011abiding Americans, arguing they are uncomfortable with patriotism when not in power.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Lora Ries of the Heritage Foundation echoed that view, saying Democrats show their priority is protecting noncitizens over American citizens, and she suggested this ties into concerns about noncitizen voting, ballot harvesting, and census-driven districting, along with resistance to proof-of-citizenship or voter ID<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[3933,32082,5894,17782],"class_list":["post-2573852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-dems","tag-jd-vance","tag-politics","tag-sotu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2573852"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2573855,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2573852\/revisions\/2573855"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2573852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2573852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2573852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}