Trump walked in to applause. Al Green walked out to chaos. The Texas congressman’s protest sign, a direct response to Trump’s ape post about Barack and Michelle Obama, ignited a storm on the House floor. Republicans tried to rip it away. Security moved in. Green knew exactly what he was risking – and he still refu…

Al Green’s removal from the State of the Union wasn’t a spur‑of‑the‑moment outburst; it was a calculated stand against what he called “invidious discrimination.” By holding up a sign declaring “Black People Arent Apes,” he forced Trump’s racist post about the Obamas into the same room as the president himself, refusing to let it fade into the constant churn of outrage. Green later explained that he wanted Trump to see, face to face, that at least one Black lawmaker would not quietly absorb that insult.

He accepted that consequences would follow. Green has long argued that true civil disobedience means being willing to be removed, censured, or condemned if that’s the cost of calling out injustice. As Republicans now push a second censure, his message is less about parliamentary decorum and more about drawing a hard line: some rhetoric, he insists, must be confronted, even if you have to stand alone.