Anger swamps Democrats' Trump speech strategy

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wanted a "solemn" response to President Donald Trump's congressional address Tuesday. His members had other ideas.

Moments after Trump began speaking, Texas Rep. Al Green rose and interrupted the president until he was ejected from the chamber. Other members held signs blasting Trump and his policies. Repeatedly they met Trump's partisan provocations with chants and jeers. Many simply walked out of the chamber, leaving the Democratic section increasingly empty as the speech went on.

The minority party is still trying to find its footing and a winning message after losing control of government last fall, and the protests and walkouts underscored just how difficult it will be for Democratic congressional leaders to effectively harness the anger of their party's voters, activists and elected officials.

Jeffries and other party leaders have counseled a measured approach, one focused on the impacts of Trump's policies — particularly the cuts being undertaken by billionaire ally Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. Lawmakers were encouraged ahead of the speech to emphasize the effects of Trump and Musk’s overhaul of the federal government and to bring guests impacted by the House GOP budget blueprint or by Musk’s actions.

Some of the Democratic protests were largely in line with that directive. The Congressional Progressive Caucus, for instance, distributed signs to its members to signal disapproval of specific Trump policies, believing their silent protest was in line with leaders' wishes. This bloc and some of the other Democrats had given leadership a heads-up about their plans, even as they were encouraged not to bring props like signs and whiteboards.

Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), a Progressive Caucus member who walked out, said what was "important to our leadership was that we stayed focused on the message" but that there was room for Democrats, as the minority party, to make their opposition to Trump plain.

“We're doing the best with what we have — we don't have gavels,” said Takano.

In a statement after the speech, Jeffries called it "one of the most divisive presidential addresses in American history" but didn't address the protests from members of his caucus. His wish for a "solemn" response invoked a word often used by his predecessor as top Democratic leader, Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, who had little patience for freelance activism at high-profile, high-stakes moments.

Parts of Trump's speech Tuesday night were marked by spasms of raw anger. With the trauma of the Jan. 6 insurrection and the brutal beatings of Capitol officers still fresh in their minds, Democrats shouted “Jan. 6” at Trump when he praised law enforcement during the speech. Democratic lawmakers sprinted for the exits when Trump wrapped up the address, and none lingered to talk to the president as he left the House chamber.

“To be honest with you, I would have rather spent time sticking needles in my eyeballs than sitting through this speech,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.). "It was awful."

Many Democrats who made gestures of protest saw their demonstrations as a way to counter the disruption wrought by Trump and his allies.

“If they're moving different, we have to move different, and that's how we match their energy, and that's why I walked out,” said Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.). "I did something unprecedented today, because they are doing something unprecedented every day — making history for the wrong reasons."

The rising tide of demonstrative behavior from the opposition party arguably began in 2009 with South Carolina GOP Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst of "you lie" at then-President Barack Obama. More recently, Republican members such as Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado shouted during President Joe Biden's joint addresses. But Republicans criticized Tuesday night's protests of Trump all the same.

“The level of vitriol from the Democrats was the worst it's ever been," Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told reporters. "It's a new, terrible standard."

Most Democrats, meanwhile, refrained from criticizing their colleagues who protested the president.

“I think that there should be more decorum on both sides, and I think there should be bipartisanship, but unfortunately we're not living in that day and age,” said purple-district Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas.). "There's a lot of emotions around this country, and we saw them tonight on both sides."

Democrats have faced pressure from their base to mount a more determined resistance to Trump, and some of those who protested Tuesday said that they wanted to show that resistance.

"It's worth it to let people know that there are some people who are going to stand up" to Trump, Green told reporters after getting expelled from the chamber. He shouted that Trump had "no mandate" to pursue his agenda, later explaining he was protesting proposed cuts to Medicaid and other programs.

Speaker Mike Johnson said following the speech that Green should face a congressional censure for his disruption. (Wilson was handed a reprimand, a less severe sanction, for his outburst in 2009.)

Green said he was prepared to "accept the punishment" and had no regrets about acting out.

"It is the best way to get it across to a person who uses his incivility against our civility," he said.

Lisa Kashinsky, Mia McCarthy and Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.

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