A boy who is bullied for having the same last name as President Donald Trump is among the list of guests invited to Tuesday’s State of the Union Address.
6th-grader Joshua Trump from Wilmington, Delaware is one of a dozen special guests invited by the president and his wife Melania Trump invited to the speech.
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According to WHYY, five students who harassed the 11-year-old student were disciplined by Talley Middle School back in December for bullying the child for his last name.
“Joshua Trump is a 6th grade student in Wilmington, Delaware,” the White House statement announcement the guests read. “He appreciates science, art, and history. He also loves animals and hopes to pursue a related career in the future. His hero and best friend is his Uncle Cody, who serves in the United States Air Force.”
“Unfortunately, Joshua has been bullied in school due to his last name. He is thankful to the First Lady and the Trump family for their support,” the statement ended.
The White House added that all the president’s guests for the address “represent the very best of America.”
The Trump campaign’s Delaware chairman Rob Arlett told the outlet that the student’s story should encourage tolerance.
Bullying “should not — and it is not — a Republican issue. It is not a Democratic issue. It truly should be a humane issue,” Arlett said. “I believe as a Christian we are all true miracles from God and we all should be respectful of those miracles.”
Joshua will join Melania in the gallery Tuesday night. The White House also announced a few other names as guests to the speech, including family members of Gerald and Sharon David of Reno, Nevada. Geralnd and Sharon were an elderly couple who were killed in January, allegedly by an El Salvadoran man believed to be in the U.S. illegally.
Alice Marie Johnson, who was granted clemency by the president on a life sentence related to a nonviolent drug offense after Keeping Up With the Kardashians star Kim Kardashian West met with him on her behalf, is also among the invited guests.
Also invited Tree of Life synagogue shooting survivor Judah Samet, who is also a Holocaust survivor; and Timothy Matson, a police SWAT team member who was shot responding to the shooting.
The State of the Union Address will be broadcast live among broadcast and news networks starting at 9 p.m. ET. Check out how the address will affect network’s primetim schedules here.
