GRAPHICS
State of the Union Address
Six minutes into President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday, Texas Rep. Al Green, a Democrat, was removed from the House chamber after he interrupted Trump and refused to take his seat.
Green’s removal was the latest in a series of partisan heckling events that have marked recent presidential addresses to Congress.
“You don’t have a mandate,” the Texas representative told Trump shortly after the president started speaking. House Speaker Mike Johnson cited House rules on decorum and warned Green to take his seat before ordering his removal.
Green was escorted out of the chamber as Republicans cheered.
When have lawmakers objected during a State of the Union?
Disagreements during addresses have grown more rancorous since President Barack Obama took office. In 2009, Republican Rep. Joe Wilson, S.C., shouted “You lie!” at Obama during the president’s first address to a joint session of Congress. The House later rebuked Wilson.
Though Obama’s speech was not a State of the Union address, Wilson’s act was a turning point in president-legislator relations.
What lawmakers did – or yelled – at State of the Union addresses
As politics continue to divide the nation, members of both parties have openly demonstrated their opposition.
2020: Then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – on the podium behind President Donald Trump – tore up her copy of Trump’s speech after he finished his State of the Union address on Feb. 4. “It was a manifesto of mistruths,” Pelosi, a Democrat, said later.
2022: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., heckled Biden during his address on March 1. Boebert shouted “13 of them,” referring to troops killed in Afghanistan. Her comment came as Biden was speaking about veterans who died of cancer connected to battlefield conditions and said his son Beau was one of them.
2023: Green yelled “Liar!” at Biden during the address. Biden responded by arguing with detractors during the address.
With a few exceptions, lawmakers had limited their dissent during addresses to booing or sitting in silence.
SOURCE USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Reuters; Getty Images
