Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger gives the Democratic response to President Donald Trump's State of the Union address in Williamsburg on Feb. 24, 2026. (Pool photo by Erin Schaff/The New York Times)
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, just weeks after being sworn in as the commonwealth’s 75th governor, delivered a sharp Democratic rebuttal Tuesday night to President Donald Trump’s 107-minute State of the Union address, accusing him of driving up the costs of housing, health care, energy and groceries, unleashing chaos in American communities and deepening instability abroad — all while enriching himself and his allies.
Speaking from Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area, Spanberger in her 12-minute speech posed three questions to viewers across the nation.
“Is the president working to make life more affordable for you and your family? Is the president working to keep Americans safe — both at home and abroad? Is the president working for you? We all know the answer is no,” she said.
Congressional Democrats announced Thursday that Spanberger, 46, would deliver the party’s response, elevating the first woman to serve as Virginia’s governor to a national stage heading into the midterm elections.
She is the first Democratic Virginia governor to give the rebuttal since then-Gov. Tim Kaine in 2006. The following year, U.S. Sen. Jim Webb delivered the Democratic response to President George W. Bush’s address. In 2010, Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell gave the GOP response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union.
Trump touts strength; Spanberger cites rising costs
The White House criticized Spanberger’s rebuttal in a prepared statement released Tuesday afternoon.
“Spanberger, like the rest of the radical left lunatics in her party, is fully against President Trump’s agenda of lowering costs, bringing back manufacturing, and securing our borders — instead favoring a return to the Biden-era carnage she was ‘proud’ to support,” the statement said.
Trump, addressing a joint session of Congress for the second time since assuming office last year, declared the nation “strong,” highlighting job gains, rising incomes and a booming stock market even as many voters continue to express economic anxiety.
He defended his administration’s record on border security and immigration, called for tighter voting rules and restrictions on mail-in ballots, and underscored efforts to curb federal spending.
The president also introduced what he described as a “rate-payer protection plan” aimed at addressing rising electricity costs tied to data centers.
But Spanberger said the president’s economic message does not reflect what she heard from Virginians during her campaign.
“As I campaigned for governor last year, I traveled to every corner of Virginia, and I heard the same pressing concern everywhere: costs are too high,” she said. “In housing, healthcare, energy, and childcare. And I know these same conversations are being had all across this country.”
She argued that Trump’s trade policies have increased household expenses.
“Because since this president took office last year, his reckless trade policies have forced American families to pay more than $1,700 each in tariff costs,” she said. “Small businesses have suffered. Farmers have suffered, some losing entire markets. Everyday Americans are paying the price.”
Although the Supreme Court struck down the tariffs days ago, she added, “the damage to us, the American people, has already been done.”
And Republicans in Congress, she said, remain unwilling to assert their constitutional authority to stop the president. “They’re making your life harder. They’re making your life more expensive. They’re even making it more difficult to see a doctor.”
Spanberger pointed to what she called the consequences of the reconciliation bill that Congress passed last year.
“Rural health clinics in Virginia are already closing their doors thanks to the so-called ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ championed by the president and Republicans in Congress,” she said.
“And tonight, the president celebrated this law — the one threatening rural hospitals, stripping healthcare from millions of Americans, and driving up costs in energy and housing. All while cutting food programs for hungry kids.”
She then shifted to what she described as corruption at the highest levels of government.
“He’s enriching himself, his family, his friends. The scale of the corruption is unprecedented,” Spanberger said, citing “the cover-up of the Epstein files,” “the crypto scams,” “cozying up to foreign princes for airplanes and billionaires for ballrooms,” and “putting his name and face on buildings all over our nation’s capital.”
“This is not what our founders envisioned,” she said.
Governor argues Trump policies undermine safety
Drawing on her background as a former federal law enforcement and CIA case officer, Spanberger argued that the Trump administration’s actions have made Americans less safe.
“I began my career by following in my father’s footsteps as a federal agent working money laundering and narcotics cases. I worked side by side with local and state police to keep our communities safe and to uphold and enforce the law,” she said.
“And yet, our president has sent poorly trained federal agents into our cities, where they have arrested and detained American citizens and people who aspire to be Americans — and they have done it without a warrant,” she said.
Spanberger added that federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents “have ripped nursing mothers away from their babies, they have sent children — a little boy in a blue bunny hat — to far-off detention centers, and they have killed American citizens on our streets. And they have done it all with their faces masked from accountability.”
On foreign policy, the governor said Trump is weakening America’s standing in the world.
“As the president spoke of his perceived successes tonight, he continues to cede economic power and technological strength to China, bow down to a Russian dictator, and make plans for war with Iran,” she said.
“Here’s the truth: over the last year, through DOGE, mass firings, and the appointment of deeply unserious people to our nation’s most serious positions, our president has endangered the long and storied history of the United States of America being a force for good.”
In choosing Colonial Williamsburg as her backdrop, Spanberger invoked the site’s role in the nation’s founding.
It was there in 1776 that delegates voted to instruct Virginia’s representatives to propose independence and later adopted the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which helped shape the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Bill of Rights.
On Tuesday, Spanberger tied that legacy to civic engagement today.
“But here is the special thing about America: On our 250th anniversary, we know better than any nation what is possible when ordinary citizens — like those who once dreamed right here in this room — reject the unacceptable and demand more of their government,” she said.
“And Americans across the country are taking action. They are going to the ballot box to reject this chaos. With their votes, they are writing a new story. A more hopeful story.”
Spanberger closed by quoting George Washington’s warning about “cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men” and urging Americans to unite “in ‘a common cause’ to move this nation forward.”
“Because ‘We the People’ have the power to make change, the power to stand up for what is right, and the power to demand more of our nation,” she said.
Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger watches President Trump’s State of the Union at Colonial Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia on Feb. 24, 2026. (Pool photo by Erin Schaff/The New York Times)
This story was originally produced by Virginia Mercury, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes NC Newsline, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
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