Rep. Al Green Ejected From State of the Union Over Anti‑Trump Protest Sign

During President Donald Trump’s Feb. 25, 2026 State of the Union address, Rep. Al Green (D‑Texas) was escorted out of the House chamber after he repeatedly held up a sign reading “BLACK PEOPLE ARE NOT APES!” in protest of a recent Trump Truth Social video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes. As Trump entered and began speaking, Green remained standing with the sign, prompting several Republicans — including Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R‑Okla.), Sen. Roger Marshall (R‑Kan.) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R‑La.) — to confront him and try to yank the sign from his hands or block the president’s view. A House sergeant‑at‑arms staffer eventually led Green out, marking the second consecutive year he has been ejected from a Trump address to Congress after Democratic leaders, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, had explicitly warned members not to bring protest signs or disrupt the speech. As he was leaving, Green stopped to hold the sign directly toward Rep. Troy Nehls (R‑Texas), who also tried to seize it, underscoring how deeply Trump’s racist‑imagery post has inflamed tensions on Capitol Hill. The episode will fuel post‑speech scrutiny of both Republican efforts to enforce decorum and progressive frustration over leadership’s calls for “silent defiance” instead of visible protest.