Washington — President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress was quickly interrupted Tuesday night, as Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas stood and shouted in protest when Mr. Trump began touting his victory in the 2024 election. Green was quickly escorted from House chamber.
Who is Al Green?
Green, 77, has represented a Houston, Texas, district in the House since 2005.
The Texas Democrat has previously pushed to remove Mr. Trump from office, authoring articles of impeachment against him during the president’s first term. He threatened to do so again last month after the president suggested the U.S. would take over Gaza.
Why was Congressman Green escorted out of Trump’s joint address?
After Mr. Trump kicked off his speech declaring that “America is back,” to applause and chants of “USA” from Republicans, he celebrated his victory in the 2024 election, saying “the presidential election of Nov. 5 was a mandate like has not been seen in many decades.”
As the president cited his victory in the swing states and claimed to have won the popular vote by “big numbers,” Green could be seen shouting as he stood and raised his cane in the president’s direction.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, seated behind Mr. Trump on the dais, gaveled down and warned Green to be quiet, saying “members are directed to uphold and maintain decorum in the house and to cease any further disruptions.”
“That’s your warning,” Johnson said.
As Green continued, Johnson repeatedly urged him to take his seat, before directing the sergeant at arms to “restore order” and “remove this gentleman from the chamber.”
After he was removed from the chamber, Green told reporters that he was “willing to suffer whatever punishment is available to me.”
“Whatever the punishment is,” Green said. “I’m not fighting the punishment. This is about the people who are being punished by virtue of losing their health care. This is the richest country in the world, and we have people who don’t have good health care. We’ve got to do better and now we’re about to cut Medicaid, which is for poor.”
Have other Democrats protested during Trump’s speech?
Green’s interruption came after questions swirled about how Democrats would conduct themselves during Mr. Trump’s address. A group of House Democratic women wore pink Tuesday night to protest how they say the president’s policies are “devastating women,” while other lawmakers held up signs or otherwise displayed their discontent.
Other Democrats conducted acts of protests, with four House Democratic women taking off their pink blazers, stood up, and turned around to reveal black tee shirts with wording on the back — at least one of them said “RESIST.” They then walked out of the chamber.
Several other members also walked out of the chamber.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, meanwhile, displayed a white board that said “start by paying your taxes” when Mr. Trump asked Congress to extend his 2017 tax cuts, which are set to sunset at the end of 2025.
Another Democrat, Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico, held a sign that said “this is not normal” while Mr. Trump walked out. A Republican member of Congress hit it away.
A small number of Democrats opted not to attend Tuesday night’s address, including Sens. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Patty Murray of Washington and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. But Democrats didn’t stage a large-scale boycott of the speech.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries outlined expectations in a letter to colleagues, saying that while the decision to attend is a “personal one” he emphasized that it’s “important to have a strong, determined and dignified Democratic presence in the chamber.”
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