WASHINGTON — Rep. Al Green was ejected from President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night — the second straight year the Texas Democrat has been removed from the House chamber while the president addressed Congress.
Green was seen on the House floor waving a sign that read “Black People Aren’t Apes.” The gesture was an apparent reference to a video Trump posted on social media this month that depicted former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes.
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As a staff member escorted him to the door minutes into the speech, Green waved his sign at the Republican side of the aisle, where Rep. Troy Nehls, a fellow Texan, tried to snatch it.
Green was ejected last year during Trump’s joint address to Congress — speeches during the first year of a president’s term are not labeled as a State of the Union — standing and shaking his cane toward the president during the opening minutes.
Green is one of Trump’s most vociferous critics and one of the most prominent proponents of impeaching him, dating to Trump’s previous term in office.
Trump has not apologized for posting the roughly minute-long video, which focused on false election fraud claims about the 2020 presidential election and at the end it suddenly flashed to a clip of the Obamas’ faces superimposed on the heads of cartoon apes. Trump told reporters at the time that he condemns the racist parts of the video.
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