Chiefs parade or State of the Union? Guess where Rep. Emanuel Cleaver is going to be
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver will skip President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, so that he can attend the Kansas City Chiefs championship parade Wednesday morning.
Cleaver, a former Kansas City mayor and a diehard Chiefs fan, has attended his share of State of the Union addresses since entering Congress in 2005. But this is only the second Chiefs Super Bowl win in history, so it wasn’t a tough choice.
“This is just a special moment for the city, and he wanted to be there with the people he represents,” Cleaver spokesman Matt Helfant said in an email Tuesday night confirming Cleaver’s absence at the speech.
Earlier in the day, Cleaver introduced a House resolution to honor the Chiefs with Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, and Rep. Sam Graves, R-Missouri.
“As a lifelong Chiefs fan who has had his heart broken a time or two, it’s difficult to put into words how special this season has been for our great city. It wasn’t always pretty, and it certainly wasn’t easy, but the people of Kansas City wouldn’t have wanted it any other way,” Cleaver said in a statement announcing the resolution.
This story was originally published February 4, 2020 at 5:43 PM.
