For a chamber that in recent years has come to expect interruptions, walkouts, and shouting matches during presidential addresses, President Donald Trump’s State of the Union on Tuesday kicked off with an unusual quiet from the opposition party.
Several Democrats had signaled in advance that they would boycott the speech, and a handful followed through, attending alternative events across the nation’s capital instead. Yet inside the House chamber, there were few empty seats as guests appeared to fill the seats typically reserved for absent lawmakers, giving the room a full appearance even as the Democratic caucus registered its dissent largely through absence rather than confrontation.
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The restrained atmosphere marked a striking contrast with earlier addresses by Trump and other recent presidents, when protests routinely escalated into televised spectacles.
The lone eruption came seconds into the speech, when Rep. Al Green, Democrat of Texas and a longtime Trump critic, rose from his seat holding a sign that read, “Black People Aren’t Apes!” The message was in reference to a social media video shared by Trump earlier this month depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes, which Trump later deleted but declined to apologize for posting. Green shouted toward the lectern as Republicans jeered, some attempting unsuccessfully to pull the sign from his hands. He was quickly escorted out of the chamber by the Sergeant at Arms, the second consecutive year Green had been removed during a Trump address to Congress.
Later, when Trump called for the passage of a ban on members of Congress trading stocks, some Democrats shouted back: “What about you?” Moments after, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota shouted that Trump is a “liar” as he alleged that “members of the Somali community have pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayers.”
Other Democratic lawmakers signaled dissent through symbolism rather than interruption. Several Democratic women wore white in honor of the suffragist movement, they said, while numerous members displayed white lapel pins reading “Release the Epstein files.” Among the invited guests seated in the gallery were survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse, part of a bipartisan push for additional disclosures from the Trump Administration related to the financier’s crimes.
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