Kansas Democrat Sharice Davids will escort President Trump into State of the Union
Rep. Sharice Davids will serve as one of President Donald Trump's escorts at Tuesday night's State of the Union address.
The Kansas Democrat, who was elected in 2018 amid an anti-Trump wave, was selected for the traditional duty by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California.
As one of the House escorts, Davids will meet with Trump before the speech. She said she plans to use that as opportunity to press the president on health care policy.
"It's an honor to be selected for the Congressional Escort Committee, particularly because it will give me the opportunity to meet with the president prior to his State of the Union address and share my hope that he will work with Congress on the issues most important to Kansas families – like lowering the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs," Davids said in a statement.
In addition to Davids, Pelosi selected New Mexico Democratic Rep. Deb Haaland. The freshman lawmakers made history in 2018 as the first two Native American women elected to Congress. Davids is also the first LGBT person to represent Kansas at the federal level.
Davids and Haaland, who have worked together on legislation to combat violence against women on Native American reservations, will join Democratic leaders and a handful of Republicans as part of the entourage that will bring Trump into the House chamber Tuesday evening and follow closely behind as he makes his way to a podium.
Davids' selection for the high-visibility role demonstrates both the historic diversity of the freshman class of Democrats and Davids' high standing with party leaders.
It also comes at a time when Davids' Republican challengers in the swing district, which narrowly went for Hillary Clinton in 2016, are criticizing the incumbent Democrat for her vote to impeach Trump.
Davids' congressional district includes Kansas City, Kansas, which Trump confused for the home of the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday night after the team won the Super Bowl.