Representative Al Green of Texas broke his own record on Tuesday night, disrupting President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address before it even got started. For the second year in a row, Green was kicked out of the chamber for protesting Trump.

As the president made his way into the chamber on Tuesday, Green showed him a sign that read “BLACK PEOPLE AREN’T APES!” The message was a reference to a video Trump reposted to his Truth Social account earlier this month that briefly showed Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt initially defended the wildly racist video, but after 12 hours it was deleted and the administration said a “White House staffer erroneously made the post,” not the president.

Trump turned away and seemed to grimace when he saw Green’s sign. Then Republican Representative Steve Scalise pulled it down.

Here is Rep. Al Green holding up a sign that according to CNN's Manu Raju said "Black people are not apes” before Steve Scalise pulled it down pic.twitter.com/chrxydRYIw— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 25, 2026

Here is Rep. Al Green holding up a sign that according to CNN's Manu Raju said "Black people are not apes” before Steve Scalise pulled it down pic.twitter.com/chrxydRYIw

Minutes into Trump’s speech, Green was escorted out of the chamber. He continued brandishing the sign and GOP Representative Troy Nehls tried to pull it from his hands. Republicans began chanting “USA! USA!” to drown out the noise from the scuffle.

Democratic Rep. Al Green is kicked out of the State of the Union for a second-straight year. He held up a sign that reads, “Black People Aren’t Apes,” at Trump.Republican Rep. Troy Nehls tried to rip the sign from Green as he was escorted out. pic.twitter.com/wBMLnrHqNM— The Recount (@therecount) February 25, 2026

Democratic Rep. Al Green is kicked out of the State of the Union for a second-straight year. He held up a sign that reads, “Black People Aren’t Apes,” at Trump.Republican Rep. Troy Nehls tried to rip the sign from Green as he was escorted out. pic.twitter.com/wBMLnrHqNM

Last year Green waited a few minutes longer to disrupt Trump’s speech to Congress. As Trump kicked off his remarks, Green stood up and shouted “You have no mandate to cut Medicaid!” After multiple warnings, House Speaker Mike Johnson directed the Sergeant of Arms to eject Green from the House chamber. Later, the House voted 224-198 to censure Green, with ten Democrats joining Republicans to express their disapproval.

It seems likely that Green is on the path to another censure. So he’ll probably see more consequences for this protest than the “staffer” who allegedly posted the racist video on Trump’s feed. There were no reports of anyone being fired or disciplined for the post, and Trump said he would not apologize because “I didn’t make a mistake.”

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