Meet Al Green, the man hailed as an 'American hero' after protesting Trump speech

Democrat interrupts US president’s speech in Congress to demand protections to the Medicaid healthcare programme

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A US House of Representatives member made headlines after being removed for protesting during Donald Trump’s Congress speech on Tuesday.

Al Green, a Democrat representative for Texas, has been praised for standing up against the president's cuts to Medicaid — a healthcare programme used by 80 million people.

“America is back,” he began, as chants of “USA” echoed from his supporters. “There has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country… We are just getting started.”

Al Green is removed from the chamber as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol

AP

Since he took office for the second time on January 2, Trump has stopped funding USAid programmes, local government departments and the Ukraine war effort.

However, his slashing of the Medicaid budget by some £880 billion led to house Democrats holding signs in protest from their benches.

More than half of American voters support Medicaid and think it should have greater funding, according to AP. Cuts are planned to fund tax reductions.

Mr Green caused such a disturbance that he had to be removed from the house by security on Tuesday — not long into Trump’s speech.

“You can’t cut Medicaid,” he was heard to shout as he stood up and pointed his cane at the president.

This prompted Trump’s supporters to stand up and increase their yelling of “USA, USA!” to drown him out.

House Speaker Mike Johnson demanded that the representatives calm down before ordering staff to remove Mr Green from the room in chaotic scenes.

“AL GREEN YOU ARE AN AMERICAN HERO!!!!!!!!” one person said on X (formerly Twitter) afterwards.

But who is Mr Green?

Al Green wasn’t the first lawmaker to shout out in protest during a presidential address to Congress. However, AP reported that he was perhaps the only one in recent memory to be ejected from the hall by the Speaker of the House.

Not to be confused with the singer of the same name, Mr Green has been a prominent lawmaker since his election to Congress in 2004, often standing alone, as he did on Tuesday night.

Now 77, he has been elected more than 10 times to represent Texas District 9 and was unopposed in the most recent election.

Before this, he had a long tenure as a justice of the peace in Harris County. Last year, Mr Green stunned his colleagues when he rushed from his hospital bed, where he was recovering from surgery, to vote against the Republican effort to impeach President Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas. His arrival saw the vote fail, though Republicans later recouped and impeached Mr Mayorkas a few days after.

Al Green has been a Congress member for 20 years

via REUTERS

Mr Green warned on Tuesday against Republican efforts in their budget proposal to alter Medicaid, the programme he said many people in his Houston-area district rely on for healthcare. He also cautioned against cuts to Medicare, the programme for seniors, and the Social Security retirement scheme.

“I know people who are very fearful,” he said. “These are poor people and they only have Medicaid in their lives when it comes to their healthcare.

“And I want him to know that his budget calls for deep cuts in Medicaid. He needs to save Medicaid, protect it, we need to raise the cap on social security — there’s a possibility it’s going to be hurt - and we got to protect Medicaid.

“These are the safety programmes that people in my congressional district depend on. And this president seems to care less about them and the number of people he can remove from the programmes which have been so helpful to so many.”

He added: “I am willing to suffer whatever punishment is available. It's worth it to let people know that there are some of us who are going to stand up against this president."

Additional reporting by AP.

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