Photo: Courtesy White House
On Monday, ahead of PresidentDonald Trump‘s State of the Union address Tuesday night, the White House announced the guests that he and first lady have invited to attend — including one sixth-grader who was “bullied” for sharing a last name with the commander-in-chief.
Joshua Trump, a student from Wilmington, Delaware, will be seated in First LadyMelania Trump‘s box on Tuesday evening, the White House announced in a news release.
“Unfortunately, Joshua has been bullied in school due to his last name,” the release states.
“[Joshua] appreciates science, art, and history,” the release continues. “He also loves animals and hopes to pursue a related career in the future. His hero and best friend is his Uncle Cody, who serves in the United States Air Force.”
Presidential guests at the State of the Union are a decades-long tradition, and they usually serve a symbolic — even political — purpose, either attending to receive thanks for their patriotic contributions or to underscore a policy position or argument of the president. Lawmakers in the audience, in turn, bring guests of their own.
According to CNN, Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley, from Oregon, invited 12-year-old Yakelin Garcia Contreras.
Yakelin, who is from Guatemala, was around the same age as Joshua when she wasseparated from her mother at the U.S. border. Merkley’s invitation appears to be in response to the Trump administration’s controversialchild separation policy.
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“They curse at him, they call him an idiot, they call him stupid,” his mother, Megan Trump, told WPVI.
She added: “He said he hates himself, and he hates his last name, and he feels sad all the time, and he doesn’t want to live feeling like that anymore, and as a parent that’s scary.”
Eventually, Joshua’s last name was changed to his father’s name, Berto, in the school’s system, according to WPVI.
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Among the 13 Trump guests at the State of the Union will be Alice Marie Johnson, the 63-year-old great-grandmother whomKim Kardashian Westlobbied to freeafter 21 years in prison.
Also attending will be Judah Samet, a survivor of theTree of Life Synagogue shootingin Pittsburgh in October; Timothy Matson, a police SWAT team member who was shot multiple times during the Tree of Life tragedy; and Tom Wibberley, the father of Navy Seaman Craig Wibberley, who was killed in 2000.
source: people.com
