It’s Hard Not to Protest a Speech Like Trump’s Congress Speech

It may not have been the best possible day for President Trump to declare to Congress that “America’s momentum is back.” Just before he spoke, the stock market fell almost into correction territory, the result of deep concerns about his bizarre decision to enact tariffs on what used to be two of the country’s closest allies. Though he announced that “our confidence is back,” the actual confidence of consumers, as measured by the Conference Board, has fallen by the largest amount since August 2021.

The cost of Trump’s disastrous first month back in office could be seen in the furious response of Democrats on the House floor. Many of them booed and catcalled throughout the opening moments of the speech, particularly when the president defied arithmetic by claiming he had a significant mandate because of his big lead in the popular vote. (He did not break 50 percent, and he beat Kamala Harris by less than 1.5 percentage points.) Some Democrats waved signs saying “Musk steals,” “No king” and “Save Medicaid.” Others wore pink as a protest color.

And Representative Al Green of Texas shouted at the rostrum and refused the order of Speaker Mike Johnson to sit down. Finally both Green and Johnson got the spectacle they hoped for when the speaker had Green thrown out of the chamber. It was a first in the modern era, as so many other aspects of this term have been.

For years, performative outbursts have been on the rise during presidential addresses to Congress. Joe Wilson of South Carolina told Barack Obama in 2009 that he lied; Nancy Pelosi tore up Trump’s State of the Union speech in 2020; and Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert hooted at President Joe Biden in 2022 and 2023.