You could almost write this script even before it happened, as you just knew someone like Rep. Al Green (D-TX) would demand the spotlight be put on him.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) had him removed, embarrassing the Democrat Party yet again.
Sadly, Green was not the only embarrassment for Democrats Tuesday night.
Rep. Green defied Democrat leadership and brought a racially charged protest sign to the State of the Union (SOTU) address, and he paid the price for it.
He is a failed congressman from a Democrat stronghold in Texas who has been taking up space in the House since 2005, winning 10 straight elections. He is a disruptor, nothing more, as his achievements in Congress are few and far between, with his most famous acts being trying to repeatedly impeach Trump and being removed from Trump’s 2025 address to a joint session of Congress.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) was hoping to avoid a repeat of last year’s debacle, but Green showed up for the address with a sign that read, "Black people aren't apes!"
He refused to put the sign down, and he remained standing even after Trump started to speak. He was then escorted out of the chambers by Capitol security at the behest of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).
Johnson showed restraint; far more than I would have in the same situation.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) had a vulgar pin on denouncing ICE, and was part of several outbursts during President Trump’s speech, where Johnson would have justified asking for the hook.
He explained, “It was a very shameful display. There was a couple of times, there’s a couple of House members that I probably could have ejected from the chamber because of their behavior.”
He continued, “But the president handled it so well, and I decided not to do that because, you know, I thought it would be better for the American people to see that, to see the shame that they were bringing upon themselves, and they just continued to do it.”
One of the disruptors from the joint session address in 2025, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), was among those who chose to skip the speech but decided to unload on Trump while explaining her boycott.
She stated, "Tonight, I will boycott Donald Trump's State of the Union address. The American people deserve better than a low-down, scamming wannabe king who plans to stand at that podium and spew more lies; and I refuse to legitimize the weaponization of the federal government, blatant lies and corruption, and the destruction of our Constitutional principles and democratic norms."
After talking about all the things she would be doing while Trump was speaking, which more or less amounted to complaining about the bad orange man to her constituents, she concluded, "The current state of our union is grim, but it is not permanent. I will spend tonight continuing the fight to actually strengthen the State of the Union.”
This was “the” definition of the state of Congress today. Don’t legislate. Don’t debate. Disrupt. And most of all, do something that will get you likes, clicks, and shares on your social media accounts.
