Prior to last night, Rep. Val Hoyle announced she would be attending the President’s State of the Union address, and who she would be hosting as a guest too. She did attend, and as you’ll see, she didn’t approve.“My guest for the speech is Marie Bowers, a fifth-generation farmer and former President of Oregon Women for Agriculture. My district feeds the world, and I am proud to bring attention to her work to highlight women farmers,” said Hoyle. “I believe it’s important to attend the State of the Union to hear what President Trump has to say about the chaos of the last six weeks and what his agenda is moving forward. It is equally important to me that we hold him accountable.”
What she thought of the address
Right after the Tuesday evening address, Hoyle burned off a release to all the state’s news outlets. It was less than enthusiastic.
“The President had an opportunity tonight to show the country who and what he stands for—and he made it clear he does not stand with working people or lowering costs for them,” said Hoyle. “I am disturbed and outraged that the President is proud of selling out the government to billionaires, starting a costly trade war with our closest allies, and previewing undercutting Social Security – and that my Republican colleagues applaud that. I will always stand up for what is right and fight to protect the benefits and services that American taxpayers have earned and paid for.”
How Merkley and Wyden responded
Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley posted during the address on social media platform X, “Candidate Trump promised to lower prices, but President Trump’s reckless blanket tariffs will RAISE prices even higher for families in Oregon and across the country. This is Trumpflation at work!”
Sen. Ron Wyden chose not to attend, deciding instead to offer an open invite town hall. 4,000 attended the Q&A session, with constituent questions coming from across the state.
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