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Several GOP lawmakers plan to skip Biden's State of the Union address, pointing to COVID-19 testing requirement
Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Several GOP lawmakers plan to skip Biden's State of the Union address, pointing to COVID-19 testing requirement

Multiple Republican lawmakers have announced that they will not attend President Joe Biden's State of the Union address.

"I'm healthy, so I won’t be taking a test for COVID… so I won’t be attending the #SOTU," GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky tweeted on Tuesday.

Individuals who plan to attend are required to undergo COVID-19 testing.

HuffPost's Igor Bobic reported on Monday that Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said that he will not attend the speech. "I don't have time to go take a COVID test today. I only take a test if I’m sick," Rubio said, according to Bobic.

Rep. Chip Roy of Texas responded to Bobic's tweet by saying, "Same. I will not attend."

"We’re still being forced to test, a fence is up, & Americans can’t visit the Capitol. While I have an obligation to be present to vote for my constituents (vs. 'proxy' voting), I don’t have an obligation to be there for political theater," Roy had also tweeted on Monday.

GOP Reps. Mary Miller of Illinois, Bob Good of Virginia, Matt Rosendale of Montana, and Andrew Clyde of Georgia also will not attend the speech, according to the Daily Caller.

"I will not submit to an unnecessary COVID test to attend a State of the Union only to hear this President whisper through a speech that will inevitably fail to take responsibility for the tremendous damage he has and continues to cause to our country," Good told the outlet.

"I am boycotting the State of the Union on behalf of the American people who were fired because Joe Biden's White House strong-armed private employers to institute illegal vaccine mandates," Miller tweeted.

President Biden heads into the address as he continues to face sagging job approval numbers across various polls and as Americans continue facing rapidly rising prices. His speech also comes as Russia invades Ukraine and Ukrainians bravely fight to defend their country against the Russian onslaught.

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