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How To Watch The 2019 SOTU Responses, Because Stacey Abrams Is In Good Company
On Tuesday evening, multiple politicians will give speeches to the American public about the state of the nation in 2019. The most notable speech will be POTUS' address before Congress on Tuesday evening. After POTUS will come the Democratic rebuttal, which will be carried out by Stacey Abrams immediately after. Still other addresses will be delivered by Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris at different points. So if you're figuring out how to watch State of the Union 2019 responses, there's good news: they're all at different times.
Harris and Sanders will serve as bookends for the evening of speeches: Harris' speech is set to occur before the SOTU, in the form of a Facebook live speech, and Sanders is set to speak after Abrams finishes her rebuttal. Harris' speech comes a few weeks after her announcement that she is running for president in 2020. As for Sanders, he has not confirmed whether or not he is running for president again, but his rebuttal will be mark his third year of doing so as an Independent politician.
If you're looking to catch all four SOTU speeches, you'll have to settle in for the evening at 7:45 p.m. EST, starting with Harris:
Kamala Harris' Pre-SOTU Rebuttal On Facebook Live
Sen. Kamala Harris will be delivering a "pre-buttal" to the SOTU prior to Trump's address, in the form of a Facebook Live stream beginning at approximately 7:45 p.m. EST.
In a tweet on Tuesday morning, Harris argued the need to "speak truth to the American people during this inflection moment in our country's history." Per a press release received by Nightline, Harris will "push back on the President's expected message of division, highlight the importance of speaking truth, and outline her vision for a country that works for all people."
Stacey Abrams' Democratic Rebuttal
Immediately following POTUS' televised address to Congress, Abrams will give the Democratic rebuttal to the SOTU, a tradition long-held by both parties when the opposite party is in power. Both of these speeches will be broadcasted by many major networks, including CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News.
Additionally, the White House will stream these events on its own YouTube account. You can also count on PBS' YouTube account, which will be streaming both the SOTU and the rebuttal without any interruptions.
Bernie Sanders' SOTU Live Stream
In a Twitter announcement that was linked to the news that Abrams would be giving the Democratic rebuttal, Sanders confirmed that he will be giving his third annual response to Trump in the form of a livestream. Sanders didn't give a specific time, but you can assume that he'll begin whenever Abrams finishes her speech.
You can watch Sanders' address on his YouTube account, or via his Facebook Live stream.
Of course, there's the main event, itself: Trump's SOTU address is scheduled to begin exactly at 9 p.m. EST; there's a total possibility that his address could begin late, and that it could take upwards of 90 minutes for him to complete, so the start time and the length of Trump's speech will heavily affect Abrams' speech, and both of those speeches will impact the time of Sanders' speech. There's pretty much no getting around it: it's likely going to be a long night.
