Democrat Al Green thrown out House after ‘Black people aren’t apes’ protest during Trump's State of the Union address speech. What was the sign about?

A Democratic congressman was removed from the House chamber on Tuesday (Feb 24) night after staging a protest during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. Representative Al Green of Texas stood up as Trump entered to address the joint session of Congress, holding a sign that read, “Black people aren’t apes!” The message referred to a racist video that had briefly appeared earlier this month on Trump’s Truth Social account. The clip, which was later deleted, depicted former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as monkeys.

The video sparked criticism from lawmakers and civil rights groups, who called it offensive and dehumanising. The Obamas were the first Black president and first lady in US history.

“Black people aren’t apes!”

Green, who is Black, remained standing with the sign raised as Trump began his remarks. At one point, someone nearby appeared to try to grab the placard from him. Green did not back down. As the president launched into his speech, chants of “USA! USA! USA!” broke out from sections of the chamber. Moments later, aides escorted Green out.

What did the video show?

The video, posted late Thursday (Feb 5) night, quickly drew backlash across the political spectrum. Near the end of the roughly one-minute clip, which repeated conspiracy theories about Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, the Obamas briefly appeared, their faces superimposed on the bodies of monkeys, while the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” played in the background.

Following uproar, Trump refused to apologise, claiming that he had not watched the racist Obama ape video in full before it was posted on his Truth Social account. Talking to reporters, Trump said, “I just looked at the first part... and I didn't see the whole thing,” adding that he "gave" the video to staff members to upload, and that they also did not watch it completely. "No, I didn't make a mistake," he insisted.

The post remained online for about 12 hours before being removed. The White House initially dismissed criticism as "fake outrage," but later claimed the video had been shared in error by a staff member. "A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down," a White House official told AFP.

However, earlier, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had claimed that the images were "from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King." She further asked the press to "report on something today that actually matters to the American public," which apparently an openly racist depiction of America's first Black president isn't.