‘I Have Never Seen Such A Disgraceful Display’: Cruz Rips Dems Hostile Reaction To Trump’s Speech

Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, on fire after President Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday night, lambasted the Democrats for their refusal to stand and applaud, with one exception.

“Tonight was incredible. This is the fifth State of the Union address I’ve seen Trump give; it was by far his best,” Cruz told Fox News’s Sean Hannity. “We’re just over a month into it, and he had a litany of victories that we’ve already won, one after the other after the other. I thought he was joyful. I thought he was forward-looking. I thought he had the promise of America front and center.”

Then, Cruz segued to the Democrats and their hostile response: “And I gotta say the contrast — I have never seen such a disgraceful display as the Democrats put on. I’ve been to 13 State of the Union addresses altogether since I’ve been in the Senate; I’ve been to every one; I’ve never missed one.”

“It started from the moment he walked in and was introduced, the President of the United States,” he elaborated. “Not a single Democrat stood, not a single Democrat applauded. Not one. I’ve never seen that happen.”

“Every time Joe Biden walked into that chamber and they introduced him as president of the United States, I stood my butt up and I clapped,” he recalled. “Every time Barack Obama walked in, I stood up and clapped. Even when I couldn’t stand their policies, even when I was horrified at what they were doing, I respect the office of President of the United States and I respect the American people.”

“The contempt those Democrats had; they wouldn’t stand, as you noted, for the mom of Jocelyn Nungaray,” he said, referring to the 12-year-old girl allegedly murdered by illegal immigrants. “They wouldn’t stand for Laken Riley‘s family; they wouldn’t stand for the 13-year-old kid who survived brain cancer; they didn’t stand for the young man whose father was a slain police officer who Trump admitted to West Point in the middle of the speech. They wouldn’t stand for him. Even the Joint Chiefs applauded the kid going to West Point.”

“There was one thing the entire night they applauded for: that we sent hundreds of billions of dollars to Ukraine. And they all stood and cheered that we sent money to Ukraine, but they will not applaud for America,” he concluded.

Democrats wouldn't clap for the families of Jocelyn Nungaray, Laken Riley, the 13-year-old boy with brain cancer, or the kid of a fallen police officer.

In all 13 State of the Unions I've attended, I have never seen such a disgraceful display from the Democrats. pic.twitter.com/jZlDGQYYZX

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) March 5, 2025