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By ROSS IBBETSON, ASSOCIATE EDITOR and VICTORIA CHURCHILL, US POLITICAL REPORTER
Published: | Updated:
Texas Democrat Al Green was ejected from Donald Trump‘s State of the Union address on Tuesday after brandishing a placard reading: ‘Black people aren’t apes.’
Green’s protest was in reference to a recent social media post Trump made featuring an AI video depicting Barrack and Michelle Obama as primates.
Trump kept walking as GOP Senators Markwayne Mullin and Roger Marshall moved swiftly to stand in front of Green, blocking his sign from view.
Green, a long-serving member of the Congressional Black Caucus, was swiftly ushered out of the House Chamber as Republican lawmakers erupted in heckles.
Trump’s arrival was otherwise smooth as he delivered a landmark congressional address to reset his agenda ahead of November’s midterms.
The President is staring down the barrel of his lowest approval numbers with the economy and his immigration crackdown at the top of voter grievance lists.
Trump’s speech focused on his domestic accomplishments following his first-year in office, including a rate payer pledge to keep energy prices down amid soaring costs due to AI data centers.
The President also touted his TrumpRx initiative to deliver affordable pharmaceuticals to American families.
U.S. Rep. Al Green holds a sign which reads, ‘Black people aren’t apes’ as Donald Trump arrives to deliver the State of the Union address on Tuesday
Republican lawmakers surround Al Green as he holds a sign protesting the president
Green is ushered out of the House Chamber holding his incendiary sign
Republican lawmakers swat down Green’s placard
Green engages in a tug of war with furious Republicans trying to snatch his sign
Trump carries on walking as Green holds up his protest sign
Green holds up his, ‘Black people aren’t apes’ sign, a referennce to a recent social media post Trump made about the Obamas
Green’s protest was rooted in a February 5 Truth Social post in which Trump shared a video about voter fraud that included a two-second clip depicting the Obamas as apes.
The 62-second video, posted during a late-night spree, featured the segment with the former president and first lady’s faces superimposed onto the bodies of primates to the song ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight.’
The White House initially attempted to downplay the post, with Karoline Leavitt dismissing the backlash as ‘fake outrage’ and labeling the clip an innocent meme.
But the administration swiftly blamed it on a junior staffer after outcry from senior Republicans, including Senator Tim Scott, who called it ‘the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.’
By midday, the post was deleted – a rare admission of a misstep.
Trump later explained that he had no idea that the video featured the AI clip at the end.
He told reporters on Air Force One he had only watched the opening section of the video, which focused on his 2020 election fraud claims, before passing it to his team.
Trump said he condemned the racism in the clip but refused to apologize, blaming a staffer for failing to check it before posting.
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