Rep. Al Green on his SOTU protest: “If you tolerate this level of racism, you perpetuate it”

Rep. Al Green holds up his protest sign that got him kicked out of President Donald Trump’s 2026 State of the Union address. Photo: Matt Laslo

Who?

Rep. Al Green (D-TX)

LISTEN: Laslo & Green

Ask a Pol asks:

Why did you choose to protest during the President’s State of the Union address tonight?

Key Green:

“I wanted him to know and I wanted him to see it and hear it up close,” Rep. Al Green exclusively tells Ask a Pol. “I wanted the President to know that we are not going to sit by while he disparages an entire race of people with these racist tropes.”

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Caught our ear:

“If you tolerate this level of racism, you perpetuate it,” Green tells us. “I refuse to tolerate it. I don’t want to see it normalized.”

Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Rep. Al Green (D-TX), slightly edited for clarity.

TRANSCRIPT: Rep. Al Green (2-24-2026)

SCENE: After Rep. Al Green unfurled his hand-drawn “Black people aren’t apes” sign, was escorted out of the House chamber by the Sergeant-at-Arms following his protest during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, Ask a Pol’s Matt Laslo left his seat in the chamber, rushed down 3 flights of stairs and through back cooridoors before catching the Congressman before he exited the Capitol on the first floor.

ICYMI — Ask a Pol founder Matt Laslo first sold this through his wire service, The LCB, to client, Raw Story

Screenshot: Matt Laslo’s story for Raw Story on the SOTU protest of Rep. All Green, which was sold through his wire service, The LCB.

Matt Laslo: “What happened?”

Rep. Al Green: “Well, as you know, the President has depicted the former President and First Lady Obama as apes.”

Rep. Al Green: “And if you tolerate this level of racism, you perpetuate it, and I refuse to tolerate it. I don’t want to see it normalized. And that’s why I pledge this to the President, so that there will be no question as to where I stand, how he needs to know that there are some people who have the courage to tell him things that he doesn’t want to hear, and that nobody else will tell him. And on some issues, it’s better to stand alone than not stand at all. So I stood alone.”

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