Fact Check: Did Democrats not applaud 13-year-old cancer survivor DJ Daniel at Donald Trump's speech?

WASHINGTON, DC: Devarjaye 'DJ' Daniel, a 13-year-old cancer survivor, was honored by President Donald Trump as an honorary member of the Secret Service on Tuesday, March 4 during the joint session address to Congress.

However, rumors claimed that while Daniel was being honored, several Democrats who were present in the gallery did not stand and clap for the 13-year-old. But is there any truth to this? Let us find out below.

Claim: Democrats did not applaud cancer survivor DJ Daniel at Donald Trump's speech

After Donald Trump's speech on Tuesday, March 4, a video of Democratic members of Congress in the audience sitting in silence during the speech while Republicans stood and applauded DJ Daniel went viral online.

Several internet users shared the clip on different social media platforms, including X, Bluesky, and Reddit, sparking backlash for the Democrats allegedly refusing to stand.

An X account @libsoftiktok shared the clip and captioned it, "Democrats refused to stand or clap for a little boy fighting cancer. Truly sick people." The clip has so far received 4.5 million views at the time of writing this story.

True: Video showing Democrats not clapping is authentic

The video shared by online users claiming Democrats did not stand and clap for DJ Daniel is authentic, according to Snopes. The video is available on the C-SPAN YouTube account and the clip from the X post starts at approximately 2:27:48.

In the video, it can be seen that when the camera zoomed out and spanned the room, half the room where the Democratic members of Congress were seated was mostly sitting and not clapping at that point, per the fact-checking outlet.

However, when Trump first introduced Daniel, some Democrats clapped. The video also showed Rep Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Rep Deborah Dingell, and several Democrats surrounding them clapping, per Snopes. 

Moreover, it is unclear what the Democrats in the room were doing when the cameras were not on them.

To sum things up, the clip circulated online is authentic and shows the majority of Democratic members of Congress remained seated and did not clap during Trump's mention of DJ Daniel.

Donald Trump Jr takes jibes at Democrats for not applauding DJ Daniel

President Donald Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, did not hold back and took a jibe at Democrats who refused to stand and clap for DJ Daniel while he was being honored by the POTUS.

He wrote on X, "If you can't stand up and cheer for a kid with brain cancer being made an honorary member of the Secret Service, then you might be a deeply disturbed and f****d up person!!!"

Notably, in 2018, Daniel was diagnosed with a rare form of brain and spine cancer with no cure and has been battling it for six years, according to Daily Mail.

Moreover, he underwent 13 surgeries by the time he was 12, per the outlet.