Democratic Texas Rep. Al Green suggested on Friday that the House of Representatives censuring him for disrupting President Donald Trump’s congressional address was rooted in racial “discrimination.”
Green was removed from the House chamber after refusing to stop interrupting Trump during the Tuesday speech, prompting the House of Representatives to vote to censure him in a resolution that described his behavior as a “breach of proper conduct” for creating “numerous disruptions.” On “The Breakfast Club,” Green argued that he was treated unfairly compared to white representatives who have interrupted congressional addresses in the past without facing consequences.
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“There is invidious discrimination in the House of Representatives. I’m a son of the segregated South. The rights that the Constitution recognized for me, my friends and neighbors denied,” Green said. “I had to sit in the back of the bus, the balcony of the movie, drink from a colored water fountain and my relatives who committed some crimes were locked up in the bottom of the jail. I know what invidious discrimination looks like. The Klan burned a cross in my yard. I know what it smells like.”
“I was in filthy waiting rooms and I’ve been in places where I didn’t want to be. And I know what it sounds like. I’ve been called all kinds of ugly names. So I know invidious discrimination,” he continued. “And when the speaker decided that I would be removed, and then there was this motion, this resolution to censure me, it became obvious to me that I was not being treated as others were. And candidly speaking, it is invidious discrimination, harmful discrimination.”
Green also suggested Trump should have been censured for calling Democrats “radical left lunatics” during his speech.
Speaker Mike Johnson had directed the House sergeant-of-arms to eject Green from the chamber after he would not cease being disruptive. Johnson criticized Green’s conduct as “shameful and egregious” and pushed House Democrats to vote “yes” on formally punishing Green in a Thursday X post.
“Any Democrat who is concerned about regaining the trust and respect of the American people should join House Republicans in this effort,” Johnson wrote.
Just ten Democrats voted to censure Green, while two voted “present.” The resolution passed on a 224-198 vote.
Prior to Johnson reading out the formal censure to Green, the Texas Democrat joined others in his party in disrupting the proceedings by singing “We shall overcome,” compelling the speaker to briefly call the House into recess.
A CNN poll conducted by SSRS on Tuesday found that 80% of the viewing audience perceived Green’s disruption as “inappropriate.”
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