Melania Trump Reveals the 'Heroes' She Will Sit with for State of the Union Address
As the president prepares for the State of the Union Address, the first lady had an address of her own.
Melania Trump announced on Twitter that she will be sitting with “heroes who have served our nation” tonight during the address.
According to The New York Times, the White House released a list of people who have been invited to attend the State of the Union address.
Those who will be joining the first lady include emergency medical workers and service members.
“Some of these individual stories are heroic. Some are patriotic. Others are tragic,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at a media conference, according to CBN News. “But all of them represent the unbreakable American spirit and will inspire our nation to continue growing stronger, prouder and more prosperous.”
The list of official and unofficial emergency responders invited includes Jon Bridgers, the founder of “Cajun Navy,” a nonprofit rescue team that worked during Hurricane Harvey.
The first lady will also be sitting with David Dahlberg, a fire prevention technician who rescued 62 children from a summer camp in Southern California during the wildfires, and Ashlee Leppert, a Coast Guard aviation electronics technician who rescued people during the hurricanes last year.
Police officer Ryan Holets has also been invited. He was shot twice during his time at the Albuquerque Police Department, according to the White House, and adopted a child from opioid addicted parents.
The invited service members are Cpl. Matthew Bradford and Staff Sgt. Justin Peck.
Bradford stepped on an explosive device in 2007 in Iraq and later became the first blind double-amputee to re-enlist in the Marine Corps after losing his sight and both legs. Peck provided lifesaving medical care to a fellow service member in Syria.
Preston Sharp, a young boy who organized the placement of over 40,000 American flags and red carnations on soldiers’ graves has also been invited.
The invitation list also includes people in Ohio who have given credit to the new tax reform. Steve Staub and Sandy Keplinger, founders of Staub Manufacturing Solutions, gave large Christmas bonuses to their employees because of the tax law. One of their employees, Corey Adams, in turn, will put his recent savings into higher education for his daughter.
Rounding out the guest list are four parents whose daughters were reportedly killed by members of the MS-13 gang and Celestino “CJ” Martinez, a special agent in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations unit, who helped with the arrests of over 100 MS-13 gang members.
President Donald Trump, flanked by Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, will speak to a packed house of lawmakers at the U.S. Capitol Building at 9:00 p.m. Trump has reportedly practiced meticulously, with White House press secretary Sarah Sanders promising the address will be “incredible.”
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