Jayapal says she'll skip State of the Union because she 'refuses to dignify' Trump

SEATTLE - Rep. Pramila Jayapal issued a statement Tuesday saying she plans to skip President Donald Trump's State of the Union address later this month in protest of the president.

"I join other distinguished members, including Rep. John Lewis, in refusing to dignify a president who has used the platform of the Oval Office to fan the flames of racism, sexism and hatred—most recently with his vulgar condemnation of Haiti and other African countries," Jayapal wrote.

Jayapal represents Washington's 7th Congressional District, which encompasses most of Seattle and some outlying areas of King County. She's been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration, and co-sponsored legislation to censure him last summer after he said the groups protesting against white supremacists in Charlottesville, Va., were "also very violent."

"... My highest contribution—in these extraordinary times and circumstances where President Trump is himself breaking all established precedents to serve very narrow and self-serving interests—is to stand up to declare that I profoundly disagree with his approach and his unacceptable behavior," Jayapal wrote. "His path is dangerous. His path is destructive. His path cannot be normalized. I will not normalize it."