In a moment of high political drama that immediately overshadowed the beginning of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night, Representative Al Green (D-Texas) was dramatically escorted from the House chamber. The 79-year-old congressman staged a silent but powerful protest, holding a sign that read, “Black people aren’t apes!”—a direct condemnation of a racist social media post shared by the president earlier this month .
The protest occurred just as President Trump entered the chamber to deliver his address to a joint session of Congress. As the president made his way to the rostrum, Green stood silently in the center aisle, displaying his sign for the president and the television cameras to see . The message was an unmistakable reference to a now-deleted video on Trump’s Truth Social account that depicted former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama with their faces superimposed on the bodies of apes .
Chaos Erupts on the House Floor
The silent protest immediately triggered chaotic scenes on the floor. As Green held his sign aloft, Republican lawmakers moved quickly to suppress the message. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) attempted to grab the sign away from Green as he entered the chamber with the president . Two Republican senators, Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma and Roger Marshall of Kansas, physically stood in front of Green in an attempt to block the sign from the president’s and the cameras’ view .
As Green refused to back down, the confrontation escalated. Representative Troy Nehls (R-Texas), another Trump ally, aggressively lunged at his colleague in an attempt to seize the sign . Despite the attempts to silence him, Green remained standing, holding onto his placard as security personnel moved in.
Within minutes of Trump beginning his speech, the sergeant at arms escorted Green from the chamber. As the elderly lawmaker made his way up the aisle, leaning on his cane and still clutching his sign, he was met with jeers from Republican members, some of whom broke into chants of “USA! USA!” . President Trump, unfazed by the disruption, simply said “thank you” as Green was removed and continued with his prepared remarks .
The Reason Behind the Protest
Green’s sign was a response to a racist video that had sparked outrage across the political spectrum just weeks earlier. On February 5, Trump shared a video on his Truth Social account that repeated conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. At the end of the roughly one-minute clip, a two-second segment showed the Obamas’ faces on the bodies of monkeys, accompanied by the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” .
The post remained online for approximately 12 hours and drew harsh criticism, including from South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, who called it “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House” . The White House initially dismissed the backlash as “fake outrage,” with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claiming it was merely a meme depicting “President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King” . The post was eventually deleted, with the White House blaming a junior staffer for the error. Trump later claimed he had not watched the full video before it was posted .
A History of Defiance
This marks the second consecutive year that Green has been removed from a Trump address. In 2025, he was ejected after standing up and shouting at the president, waving his cane and yelling that Trump had “no mandate” to cut Medicaid . Following that incident, Congress voted to censure Green, deeming his behavior “a breach of proper conduct” .
Speaking to reporters after his removal on Tuesday, Green was unrepentant. He expressed hope that “others will let him have a similar message so that he would discontinue this behavior.” Drawing parallels to historical civil rights actions, he added, “There are others who have taken stands, and they, too, have been vilified. Dr. [Martin Luther] King went to jail for taking a stand. Rosa Parks went to jail for taking a stand. Sometimes you have to take a stand” .
Green’s protest stood in stark contrast to the official stance of Democratic leadership, who had urged members to maintain decorum and avoid distractions during the speech. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) had advised Democrats to attend in a state of “silent defiance” . More than two dozen Democratic lawmakers chose to skip the event entirely, attending a counter-programming “People’s State of the Union” rally on the National Mall instead .
As Green was escorted into the night, his empty seat remained marked by a handwritten cardboard sign that simply said, “Al Green” .