Texas Rep. Al Green was removed from Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech after holding up a sign in protest of the president’s racist social media post portraying Barack and Michelle Obama as apes. Now, he’s broken his silence.

Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Monday got a lot of attention. Not only because of what the president said, but also about an incident involving Texas Rep. Al Green. As Trump entered the House of Representatives, Green displayed a sign that read, “Black People Arent Apes.”

It referenced Donald Trump’s social media post, which depicted former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama as apes. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) quickly approached him to talk about it while Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin tried to snatch the sign.

However, Green resisted. Eventually, he was escorted out of the auditorium amid applause from some Republicans. After leaving the chamber, Al Green spoke to The Hill about the sign.

“The President has depicted Black people, two prominent black people, the President and the First Lady, as apes. That cannot go unnoticed. For too long now, we have allowed all of his dastardly deeds to go unnoticed because he’ll get engaged with another dastardly deed. I refuse to let this go unnoticed,” Al Green said.

Rep. Al Green removed from State of the Union address
“It’s an insult, not only to the President and the First Lady, but to me as a Black person… and I wanted him to know that somebody has the courage to tell him to his face, and that’s what I did.”

He added that it wasn’t a “surprise” that he was escorted out, saying that it’s important to take a stand against this level of invidious discrimination.”

“But, you know, on some issues, it’s better to stand alone than not stand at all,” Green said.

This is not the first time Al Green has been removed from a Trump address. In March last year, he said that the president had no mandate and raised his cane. The House of Representatives later voted to censure Congressman Green.

“I understand that they’ve been using this mandate to do things that can be harmful to poor people. And I told him in no uncertain terms that he didn’t have a mandate to cut Medicaid,” Rep. Green told Fox at the time. “This wasn’t about anything that would benefit people other than constituents who are sick and need health care in the richest country in the world, and they are about to cut Medicaid.”

Speaks out
“I know that if you are breaching the rules, the law, and you are approached by a proper officer, you don’t resist, I was prepared to accept the consequences for my behavior,” Al Green continued. “I tell young people it’s okay to protest. It’s okay to be disruptive. It’s okay to block the streets, but if you do it, be prepared for the consequences because it’s only peaceful protest that can be successful.”

After he was escorted out of the State of the Union address on Monday, Republican Rep. Mike Rulli from Ohio told Fox that his office was seeking other lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to support a second censure resolution against Green.

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