Texas Democrat Representative Al Green was expelled from the House floor for repeatedly interjecting during President Trump’s address to Congress. After multiple warnings, House Speaker Mike Johnson issued an order for his removal.
Trump has already been the target of Green’s articles of impeachment. During this moment, a few Democrats also left the room or turned away from the president.
Tuesday night, Texas Democrat Al Green, a Republican, was ejected from the House of Representatives chamber for loudly jeering at President Donald Trump while he was speaking to a joint session of Congress. After several warnings, Louisiana Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson ordered Green’s ouster.
Why is Green expelled from Congress?
Representing a district in Houston, Green has already proposed articles of impeachment against Trump. Green repeatedly interrupted Trump as he was speaking before being led away.
“I’ll accept the punishment,” Green said. “It’s worth it to let people know that there’s some of us who are going to stand up against this president’s desire to cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.”
Green stated that he was especially agitated after his dismissal when Trump asserted a “mandate” from the election.
“Because he doesn’t have a mandate, and he doesn’t have a mandate to cut health care from poor people,” Green stated. He added, “This whole budget that he has is going to cause Medicaid to be cut.”
Three years after two Republican legislators, Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, repeatedly interrupted President Joe Biden during his State of the Union speech, Greene was ejected. At the time, neither was eliminated.
The Democratic response and Trump’s answer
Trump chastised Democrats for their response to Green’s comments after he was removed.
“I look at the Democrats in front of me, and I realise there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud, nothing I can do,” Trump said.
“I could find a cure to the most devastating disease, a disease that would wipe out entire nations or announce the answers to the greatest economy in history or the stoppage of crime to the lowest levels ever recorded, and these people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand, and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements.”
While several House Democrats stood with their backs on Trump during his speech, others left after Green was removed.
After Texas Representative Al Green repeatedly interrupted Donald Trump’s joint speech to Congress on Tuesday, yelling, “He has no mandate,” House Speaker Mike Johnson ordered the congressman to leave the House floor Tuesday evening.
Even after his ejection, Green remained defiant. “It’s worth it to let people know that there are some people who are going to stand up” to Trump, Green told the White House press pool, adding that he wasn’t sure if he’d face any formal punishment for his protest.
Green, a seasoned congressman from Houston, has long been against Trump and was the first congressman to demand his impeachment in 2017. Throughout Trump’s administration, Green, who represents a district with a large African American population, has been an outspoken supporter of civil rights and presidential accountability.