House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) struggled to maintain control over his conference during a lively State of the Union address on Tuesday night. During the speech, Donald Trump provoked Democrats, leading to numerous outbursts and taunts from the audience.
Before the event, Jeffries had instructed his caucus to either remain in “silent defiance” or to skip the speech entirely. However, as soon as Trump began speaking, House Democrats quickly disregarded Jeffries’ directive.
Rep. Al Green (D-TX) started the event by getting himself removed from the well of the chamber for holding a sign that read, “Black people aren’t apes!” It was in response to a widely condemned video posted by Trump on Truth Social, which depicted the Obamas as monkeys. It’s important to note that the video was not edited or created by Trump or his team.
The incident echoed last year’s events when Representative Green was reprimanded for a confrontation with Trump, during which he waved a cane. As before, Trump chose to ignore Green, letting the disruption become a spectacle in itself.
Other Democrats also gave Trump some political ammunition as his address stretched nearly two hours. Representatives Lauren Underwood (D-IL), Bill Foster (D-IL), and Madeline Dean (D-PA) stood up and left the chamber midway through Trump’s speech in protest, the Washington Examiner reported.
Trump received the strongest reactions when he asked the entire chamber to stand if they believed the U.S. government’s priority should be placing American citizens ahead of illegal aliens. When Democrats did not stand, Trump quickly capitalized on the moment.
“You should be ashamed of yourself for not standing up. You should be ashamed of yourself,” Trump said.
The comments prompted a strong reaction from Representatives Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN). They accused the president of being responsible for the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, two U.S. citizens who were shot by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis earlier this year.
Omar repeatedly shouted “liar” and “you have killed Americans.”
Tlaib, meanwhile, shouted, “You killed Alex!”
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Before the speech, Jeffries advised his conference, both publicly and privately, to skip it if they wanted to express their