Marc Fogel, the family of Corey Comperatore, and Laken Riley’s mother and sister will be among the “special people” sitting with first lady Melania Trump at President Donald Trump’s speech before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night.
The list, circulated by the office of the first lady on Tuesday morning, includes a number of families Trump highlighted on his path back to the White House, including those affected by criminal illegal immigrants.
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White House officials also told the Washington Examiner that Joseph Knowles of Detroit, Michigan, will be in attendance, though he was not included on the first lady’s guest list. Knowles is an autoworker for Stellantis who was laid off under the Biden administration but eventually reinstated after Trump’s November victory, according to a White House official. His inclusion is intended to showcase the human side of Trump’s economic agenda.
Fogel, a school teacher, was recently released from Russian detention as the Trump administration ramps up discussions with the Russian government about ending the war in Ukraine. He’ll be joined by his 95-year-old mother, Malphine Fogel. The elder Fogel had been present at Trump’s Butler campaign rally when a gunman opened fire, shooting the president and killing Pennsylvania firefighter Comperatore.
“These men, women, and families come from all different walks of life with incredible stories about the disaster wrought by the previous administration, and the historic achievements President Trump has already enacted to usher in the Golden Age of America,” the first lady’s office said in a statement.
The full list, as provided by the first lady’s office, includes:
— Elliston Berry, a 15-year-old from Aledo, Texas, who was the victim of computer-generated deepfakes
— The Comperatore family
— Jeff Denard, a worker at Nucor Steel in Decatur, Alabama
— Stephanie Diller, the widow of New York Police Officer Jonathan Diller
— Haley Ferguson, a former foster child using a scholarship provided by the first lady’s “Be Best” organization to attend Middle Tennessee State University
— Marc and Malphine Fogel
— January Littlejohn, a parents’ rights advocate from Tallahassee, Florida
— Payton McNabb, a former high school volleyball player injured competing against a trans opponent
— Allyson and Lauren Phillips, mother and sister of Laken Riley
— Alexis Nungaray, mother of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was allegedly murdered by illegal immigrants
— Roberto Ortiz, U.S. Border Patrol
Past guests to Trump’s joint address or State of the Union speeches are normally connected to policy issues that the president emphasizes during his remarks.
Trump has spoken for roughly 1 hour, 20 minutes, and 20 seconds during his addresses to Congress during his first term, according to the American Presidency Project.
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In Trump’s 2018 State of the Union address, he invited Corey Adams, a welder from Ohio who benefited from the 2017 tax cuts legislation. In 2019 for his second address, Trump brought Alice Johnson, now his ‘pardon czar,’ as well as Matthew Charles, the first person released under the First Step Act, a criminal justice reform bill Trump signed into law.
