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Congressman Al Green removed from Trump address after heckling president

Al Green shouts out as Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress. Photograph: Win McNamee/Reuters

Al Green shouts out as Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress. Photograph: Win McNamee/Reuters

House speaker Mike Johnson ordered Texas representative Al Green removed from the House chamber on Tuesday night after the congressman repeatedly interrupted Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday, shouting: “He has no mandate.”

As the president started his speech by discussing his electoral victory, Democrats heckled and booed. When Green refused to sit down, Johnson directed the sergeant-at-arms to remove him. Republican lawmakers responded by chanting “Hey Hey Hey Goodbye”.

The 78-year-old Green, who filed articles of impeachment against Trump last month, was then forcibly removed as Trump continued his speech.

The removal of an elected politician by the sergeant-at-arms during either a joint address to Congress or a State of the Union address appears to be an extremely rare, if not unprecedented, event in modern congressional history.

A veteran congressman from Houston, Green has long been a critic of Trump, becoming the first member of Congress to call for his impeachment as early as 2017.

Representing a predominantly African American district, Green has been a vocal advocate for civil rights and presidential accountability throughout Trump’s tenure.

During Trump’s speech some other Democrats held up signs that read slogans such as “Musk steals” – in reference to Elon Musk, the tech billionaire tasked by Trump with slashing the federal government – and “false” and “save Medicare”.

One other Democrat, congresswoman Melanie Stansbury, held up a sign that said simply: “This is not normal.” Lance Gooden, Republican congressman from Texas, grabbed the sign and threw it in the air.

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.

Author: Joseph Gedeon in Washington

Source: The Guardian

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