Lawmaker says he was ‘chased down’ in airport over Dems’ response to Trump speech

A California Democrat said he was “politely chased down” by a flight attendant at an airport this week who told him his colleagues looked “heartless” for not standing for Devarjaye “DJ” Daniel, the 13-year-old boy with cancer who was honored during President Donald Trump’s address to Congress. Rep. Ro Khanna said the interaction with the flight attendant, whom he identified as Jim Barrett, unfolded in Chicago.

“Sir, I am a Democrat but the way the party behaved was embarrassing. Made us look heartless. I don’t care who is up there, you stand for the boy with cancer,” Khanna recalled Barrett as saying. “Be more rational and get your act together.”

“I replied that a few of us did stand and clap and we must be the party that still believes in kindness, decency, and trying to bring people together,” he added on X.

Daniel stole the show during Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday night when the president introduced him to the audience and officially swore him in as a member of the Secret Service.

“Joining us in the gallery tonight is a young man who truly loves our police,” Trump told the crowd. “His name is DJ Daniel [and he] is 13 years old, and he has always dreamed of becoming a police officer. But in 2018, D.J. was diagnosed with brain cancer. The doctors gave him five months at most to live. That was more than six years ago.”

Daniel received a standing ovation from a majority of the crowd, although some Democrats were seen on camera sitting at various times while Trump was speaking about the 13-year-old.

“Quite frankly, there were moments where I feel like anger at some of the actions that have happened over the past month-and-a-half prevented some of my colleagues from being able to stand up to support the little DJ Daniel,” Rep. Laura Gillen, a Democrat from New York, also told News12 Long Island this week.

“I stood up and applauded this little boy, who is getting over cancer, wants to be a police officer — and I was disappointed that I was not joined by any of my colleagues,” she added.