Actor Mark Ruffalo and other celebrities are planning a star-studded event–scheduled the night before President Donald Trump's State of the Union–to showcase their opposition to the Trump administration and to encourage voters to support Democratic candidates in the upcoming midterm elections.
The event, billed as "The People's State of the Union," will occur in New York City on Jan. 29, and is being hosted by the MoveOn.org political action committee, We Stand United, and Stand Up America, according to People Magazine. The event will convene some of the most vocal anti-Trump celebrities from Hollywood such as Michael Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie Perez, and Cynthia Nixon, amongst others.
Ruffalo tweeted his support of the event Friday morning, saying he was excited to support the resistance movement against Trump and "chart a path to victory in 2018!"
He told People the New York City event will be a better reflection of America.
"In essence, it’s a better reflection of our state of the union based on a more populist point of view, based on the people’s point of view," Ruffalo said. "We want to celebrate this moment that we’re in of what is now probably one of the most influential and powerful and really beautiful movements to come into play in the United States since the civil rights movement."
Ruffalo believes now is the perfect time to hold such an event "because we have a president who has a difficult time with the truth, who has a radical, divisive agenda, and spends an enormous amount of time focusing on the negative and hopelessness and despair."
The actor wants the "The People's State of the Union" to reflect "a celebration of the power and the beauty of this movement, but also of our accomplishments and to focus on what's to come in the immediate future."
Recording artists Common and Andra Day are slated to perform their Oscar and Grammy-nominated song from Marshall, "Stand Up for Something."
Representatives from United We Dream, the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and other progressive organizations associated with the resistance movement have made plans to attend.
In 2016, Ruffalo was a staunch Bernie Sanders supporter and has a long been associated with liberal causes and movements. The actor has not shied away from controversy in the past. In June of 2017, Ruffalo shared a petition on social media demanding that MSNBC and NBC stop "the white conservative hiring spree."