Shortly after Trump began his marathon speech, the Representative from Texas stood up and shouted that the president did not have a mandate.
Democratic Representative Al Green was not the first legislator to blurt out a shout of protest during a presidential address to the United States Congress.
But he is perhaps the only one in recent memory to be ejected from the hall on Tuesday night by the speaker of the House, Mike Johnson.
Shortly after Donald Trump began the longest-ever presidential speech to Congress in modern history, Green stood up, shaking his walking cane, and shouted: “You don’t have a mandate.”
“Sit your a** down!” Representative Nancy Mace, a Republican, shouted back at Green, who remained standing.
Amid chanting from outraged Republicans, House Speaker Johnson directed the sergeant at arms, in charge of maintaining order in the chamber, to escort the 78-year-old Texas legislator out.
“Finding that members continue to engage in willful and concerted disruption of proper decorum, the chair now directs the sergeant-at-arms to restore order,” Johnson said. “Remove this gentleman from the chamber.”
Green, who had called for Trump’s impeachment during the Republican’s first term in office, later told reporters it was worth it to make his point even if he is punished by House leaders, who later called for the congressman to be censured.
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“The president was saying he had a mandate, and I was making it clear that he has no mandate to cut Medicaid,” Green told reporters, referring to the healthcare programme used by 80 million mainly low-income Americans.
Medicaid has been a key issue for Democrats, who fear potential funding cuts under a Republican leadership.
“It’s worth it to let people know that there are some of us who are going to stand up against this president,” said Green.
Green’s outburst set the tone for an uneasy night as stone-faced Democrats, now in minority, sat silently on one side of the chamber, and rambunctious Republicans on the other.
Some Democrats held up signs with messages such as “Save Medicaid” and “Protect Veterans”, aiming to draw attention to policies they believed could help them regain a majority.
Some other Democratic legislators found an unobtrusive way to show protest with a collective fashion choice: Pink clothing.
Multiple female legislators, including former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, donned outfits in that hue for the Republican president’s speech, creating a show of unity and solidarity in a room otherwise dominated by blue and grey suits.