Democrats on Tuesday staged a protest while US President, Donald Trump was addressing Congress.
They held signs reading “No King!” and “Save Medicaid,” with some turning their backs on the President as he spoke.
One lawmaker was later marched out by security.
Representative Al Green of Texas, a Democrat who plans to introduce articles of impeachment against Trump, loudly interrupted the speech in its first minutes by shouting that Trump did not have a mandate to cut safety net programs.
Meanwhile, Republicans are trying to pass a spending bill that could significantly slash spending on popular social programs, including the Medicaid health insurance plan for low-income people, to pay for Trump’s desired tax cut plan.
House Speaker, Mike Johnson ordered the sergeant-at-arms to remove Green from the chamber, and Republicans cheered as Green relented, waving his cane in the air and was led out.
Afterward, Green told reporters that it was worth it to let people know that there were some of them who were going to stand up against the president’s desire to cut Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.
With Republicans holding majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate, any impeachment effort against Trump is unlikely to advance.
It was gathered that around a third of the Democrats’ side of the chamber had emptied as Trump’s address crossed the threshold to become the longest such speech on record at an hour and 30 minutes.
The rest quickly left as Republicans gave Trump a standing ovation when the speech ended after 100 minutes.
Trump, however, dismissed their concerns.
“I look at the Democrats in front of me, and I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud, nothing I can do,” Trump said.
