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We watched The State of the Union with boycotting Democrats

VICE News watched the State of the Union address with Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky who boycotted the event.

President Trump’s first State Of The Union speech was supposed to be all about unity — a hand across the aisle. But Democrats didn’t take it that way. During the speech, they mostly sat while Republicans cheered Trump on.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) was one of the fourteen members who didn't attend in the first place. She's been a Democratic member of Congress since 1999. Every year until this one, she's watched the State of the Union address from the floor of Congress. But she decided to boycott this year's speech because she says attending would "normalize" President Trump.

VICE News was there when she watched the speech from a couch for the first time since she was elected.

This segment originally aired January 31, 2018 on VICE News Tonight on HBO.