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Donald Trump’s address today before a joint session of Congress got off to a chaotic start as Democratic and Republican lawmakers chanted, booed, and heckled each other from their respective sides of the room. At one point, House Speaker Mike Johnson (La.) ordered the House sergeant-at-arms to remove Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) from the chamber after Green interrupted Trump and refused to sit down.
“You have no mandate to cut Medicaid!” Green stood up and yelled, shaking his cane at Trump. Johnson banged his gavel and tried to get Green to sit down, but Green refused. “The chair now directs the sergeant-at-arms to restore order,” Johnson said, after which the sergeant-at-arms escorted Green from the room.
Green spoke to reporters after being booted from the chamber. “I’ll accept the punishment,” he said. “It’s worth it to let people know that there’s some of us who are going to stand up to against this president’s desire to cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.”
Green’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Rolling Stone.
Green was not alone in protesting Trump’s speech. Some Democrats in the minority wore pink as a signal of protest against the GOP’s assault on reproductive rights. Other Democrats held up signs reading “MUSK STEALS,” “SAVE MEDICAID,” and “FALSE.” The “FALSE” sign was held up whenever the president told an outright lie from the podium — which was often.
As Trump entered the chamber, Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) popped into the frame of the camera tracking the president, and held up a sign reading “THIS IS NOT NORMAL.”
Midway through Trump’s speech, Reps. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.), and Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.) stood up, turned their backs to the president, and took off their blazers to reveal shirts that said “RESIST” before leaving the chamber.
By the end of Trump’s speech, large swaths of empty seats could be seen on the Democratic side of the aisle, as a steady stream of lawmakers left the speech early. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) wrote in a statement that she had attended the joint session in order to “honor my guest Claire, a former HUD employee who was unjustly terminated as part of Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s unprecedented and unlawful attacks on our federal workers.”
“I could not in good conscience sit through this speech and give an audience to someone who operates with lawless disregard for Congress and the people of this nation. Donald Trump has used his bully pulpit to spread lies, demonize vulnerable communities, and double down on the hurt, hate, and harm in his first 43 days in office,” she added.
According to Axios, Democratic leadership discouraged its members from using props and being too disruptive during the televised address. “There are definitely a lot of constituents that really want Democrats to disrupt and there are … constituents who feel like that just plays into his hands,” one member told Axios.
After Green was escorted from the chamber, Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News posted, “That right there is exactly what Democratic leadership wanted to avoid.”
Regardless of the wishes of party leadership, sitting in respectful silence does nothing for the Americans being harmed by the Trump administration.
