Yahoo Finance Joe Biden Spars with Hecklers During State of the Union: 'Anyone Who Doubts Me, Contact My Office'
Joe Biden's State of the Union address is going down in the pages of history.
The president's speech Tuesday was full of his administration's highlights and plans for the future — but also drew fierce heckling from Republican politicians who didn't agree with his message.
Around halfway through Biden's address, the mood turned combative, with several Republican lawmakers shouting and pointing at the president while he spoke.
When Biden began talking about potential cuts to Social Security and Medicare due to Republican-supported proposals, controversial far-right Rep. Majorie Taylor Green jumped up, pointed and yelled "Liar!" Other republicans then joined in.
This also took place after house Speaker Kevin McCarthy spoke about how his Republican colleagues should treat the president with respect during the State of the Union, reported the Washington Post.
McCarthy also seemed upset by the outbursts of Greene and others. He regularly nodded his head and asked his fellow conference members to stop interrupting.
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Happening Now: President Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress. https://t.co/mzCN4SYpda
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 8, 2023
The president, initially surprised by the outbursts, then seemed energized by them and responded off script. "Anyone who doubts me, contact my office ... I'll give you a copy of the proposal," he said before elaborating that it was "not a majority" of Republicans who supported the proposals to cut funds for Social Security and Medicare and likely not "even a significant" portion of them.
"I enjoy conversion," Biden added. "So folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books now, right?"
Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/Shutterstock; JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Joe Biden Marjorie Taylor Greene
"Alright," he added, with a thumbs-up which prompted the Democrats and some Republicans to stand and cheer.
"Let's all agree — and we apparently are — let's stand up for seniors," Biden said tongue-in-cheek as McCarthy also stood and applauded.
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Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/Shutterstock President Joe Biden
"We will not cut Social Security. We will not cut Medicare," Biden continued. "If anyone tries to cut Social Security — which apparently they're not going to do — and if anyone tries, and Medicare, I'll stop them. I'll veto it."
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Though the Social Security and Medicare discourse was the most hostile moment of the evening, there were other moments of disruption. Green, 48, also yelled, "China's spying on us!" and 'Secure the border!" as the speech continued.
This is the state of our union. pic.twitter.com/ZApDN7mYMT
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) February 8, 2023
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After the State of the Union ended, Greene posted a video on Twitter to address the heated Social Security and Medicare debate.
"He did, frankly, lie, talking about Republicans and Social Security and Medicare," she said in the video about President Biden's words.
"We have not talked about cutting Social Security and Medicare ... We're not," she continued. "So we called him out on the House floor. I called him a liar because that's what Joe Biden is."
"Joe Biden doesn't know anything he's talking about. That's the state of our union," she concluded.
