Did you cheer or jeer a Texas Congressman’s removal from the House chamber during Trump’s presidential speech?
I’ve seen some celebrations over the past few days since Texas Congressman Al Green was ejected from the U.S. House floor. House officers escorted him from the chamber when he refused to quiet down during Donald Trump’s presidential speech before Congress. But is this behavior something to celebrate?
Green’s outburst came just minutes into Trump’s address. Shortly after the president called the November election a “mandate,” Green stood up. Pointing his cane at the dais, he shouted, “You have no mandate to cut Medicaid.”
“Members are directed to uphold and maintain decorum in the House, and to cease any further disruptions. That’s your warning,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said.
When Green didn’t stop his outburst, Johnson called for his removal.
It’s not the first time a lawmaker chose to interrupt a presidential speech before Congress.
Some of you will recall a South Carolina Congressman interrupting a speech by President Barack Obama in 2009. Republican Joe Wilson shouted, “You lie!” in the middle of Obama’s speech. Back then, the action was described as Wilson “shattering the decorum” of the House.
All these years later, it seems, decorum seems like little more than a memory.
Funny thing is, I’m seeing some of the same people who were appalled at Wilson’s outburst who are cheering Green’s. How (relatively) quickly they forget. Of course, politics is often a cause of convenient amnesia, isn’t it?
House censures Green
It turns out that 10 House Democrats joined Republican colleagues in voting to censure Green for his behavior. One of them, Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, released a statement:
In 2009, I voted to hold Congressman Joe Wilson accountable for yelling ‘you lie’ at President Obama during his State of the Union Address. Today, I voted to censure Congressman Al Green for a much larger disruption. Unlike my Republican colleagues and President Trump, I believe that rules, decorum, and accountability are important regardless of political party and beliefs. If we cannot stand on principle and act with the seriousness our nation deserves, our government will devolve further into the kindergarten it has already become.
The House did reprimand Wilson, but it didn’t reprimand Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who interrupted Biden speeches in 2023 and 2024.
I’ll agree that the government has devolved into kindergarten.
It’s past time that our elected leaders — all of them — grow up and act like adults.
We’re better than this, no matter how much we may disagree with each other.
It’s as simple as that.
