‘We never did that to Joe Biden’
House Speaker decries what many feel was childish behavior by Democrats, and explains why he booted one from Trump’s speech.
Rob Bluey, The Daily Signal – March 6, 2025
Americans witnessed an unprecedented display of incivility during President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night when Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, had to be physically removed from the House chamber after disrupting the president’s speech.
Now, the Houston-area congressman has been censured by his colleagues, on a vote of 224-to-198.
Ten Democrats joined with House Republicans on Thursday to censure Green for his violation of House rules, and the House Freedom Caucus announced a bill to strip Green of his committee assignments. The House censure is a formal condemnation by the legislative body, but it does not revoke privileges from Green.
President Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. | Win McNamee/Getty Images
House Speaker Mike Johnson found himself banging the gavel more than usual during President Donald Trump’s Tuesday address to Congress. But despite several Democrat disruptions, Johnson gave Trump high marks for his record-setting speech.
“The president had a great night. I thought it was one of his best speeches, maybe the best he’s ever done,” Johnson said Wednesday morning. “It was a long speech, but he could have gone much longer touting all wins he’s had already. Most presidents don’t accomplish that much in four years.”
Johnson spoke with a group of conservative social media influencers to share his perspective from the dais behind Trump. The president’s speech, which set a record at 1 hour, 40 minutes for an address to Congress, detailed his administration’s actions over the past 44 days.
As House speaker, Johnson was responsible for keeping order among the more than 500 members of Congress who attended. At one point, Johnson found himself calling on the sergeant-at-arms to remove Democrat Rep. Al Green of Texas.
“He was belligerent. He wouldn’t shut his mouth. He was so disrespectful,” Johnson said of the cane-waving Green. “This is the president of the United States, for crying out loud, it doesn’t matter if he’s from the other party. We never did that to Joe Biden.”
A poll conducted by CNN after Trump’s speech found that 80% of respondents viewed Green’s interruption as inappropriate behavior.
While it was the most notable outburst on the part of Democrats, several members held placards, wore outfits, or walked out in protest.
Prior to the speech, Johnson said he warned Trump about the Democrats’ antics, and the two men discussed what to do when things got out of hand.
“I couldn’t bang every single person out of order because we would’ve been there all night. They wanted to disrupt his speech,” Johnson said. “The president and I talked about this before it all began, and I said, ‘Sir, there’s going to be signs, there might be noisemakers. They might throw things. But why don’t you ignore as much of it as you can because their whole point is to get attention and to distract.’”
Johnson likened the Democrats’ behavior to an angry town-hall meeting. He expressed dismay that Democrats refused to applaud the invited guests Trump recognized for accomplishments like the capture of the alleged mastermind of the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan that killed 13 U.S. service members.
“We’ve crossed all barriers now, and there’s hardly any traditions that are respected anymore,” Johnson said, adding that such occasions might turn into “a UFC fight if we don’t know some rules.”
President Donald Trump is interrupted by applause during his March 4, 2025 address to a joint session of Congress. | Win McNamee/AFP via Getty Images
“He needed to be censured,” Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said of Green.
“A group of us think it needs to go further than that. I believe we’re going to file, the Freedom Caucus will file a bill, I think today or tomorrow that will actually strip him of committees,” Harris explained.
Green’s actions generated significant media coverage, and some members of Congress said they were a distraction from the real work of fixing the country’s problems.
“So, he got, unfortunately, his time in front of the cameras on Tuesday, and he then grabs some more time in front of the cameras today. But I think we really need to have, we need to have real penalties for this kind of abuse, and that’s why I think he needs to be stripped of all of his committees,” Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., told The Daily Signal.
“The other thing is that I just want to get this done and move on to save the country,” Burlison said.
“You know, the voters send their person. I might not agree with them. Doesn’t matter whether I like them or not. That’s not the point. I think the bigger point is, look, Rep. Green had an opportunity to voice his opposition, and that’s fine, but there’s a time and a place and a way to do that,” Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., told The Daily Signal.
“Quite honestly, I think there are much more important things that we should be doing, but we’re not going to be able to do those important things if we’re going to, you know, have these petty antics that really are meant to just sensationalize. I guess one individual wants to go out and raise money or something,” Perry said.
“I don’t think it [the House censure] went nearly far enough, because, as you probably heard on the House floor just a few minutes ago, that he said he would do it again. So, I think there needs to be some stronger consequences for his actions, because not only were they deliberate, but he defied the speaker when the speaker told him multiple times to sit down,” Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., told The Daily Signal
“This has to do with the House and the decorum of the House and the rules of the House, where we govern and do so respectfully. We may disagree, absolutely, as is absolutely common and expected, but that’s not the way that the House is to operate.” Clyde explained.
Green has represented the 9th Congressional District of Texas, which encompasses the southwestern portion of the greater Houston area, since 2005. The district is deep blue, and Green did not have a Republican challenger during the 2024 general election.
TOP PHOTO: Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, shouts at President Donald Trump during his address to Congress.| Win McNamee/Getty Images
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Jacob Adams contributed to this article.