Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere, MLK jr – Page 145

How Hecklers Turned the State of the Union Into a Biden 2024 Ad

Time

How Hecklers Turned the State of the Union Into a Biden 2024 Ad

Philip Elliott – February 8, 2023

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., yells during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, February 7, 2023. Credit – Tom Williams—CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

When a fur-coiffed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene yelled “liar” Tuesday night, among the loudest in an abrupt chorus of boos, the oldest President to ever deliver a State of the Union address didn’t miss a beat. He smiled and went far afield from his script as GOP lawmakers tried to reject his claims that Republicans were ready to gut social entitlement programs.

“Social Security and Medicare is off the books now, right? We’ve got unanimity?” he asked. “Apparently it’s not going to be a problem,” he deadpanned at another moment.

The striking exchange, and Biden’s ease in handling it in front of an audience of millions, illustrated why the Democratic establishment isn’t yet ready to toss their 80-year-old standard-bearer overboard.

Despite a halting, vamped opening to Tuesday’s State of the Union speech—a Super Bowl joke? Why?— Biden proved himself plenty capable of holding his own when his Republican hecklers started to stalk him. In fact, he actually demonstrated how he might be able to troll them into their own self-own status in real time. Give Biden acrimony, he’ll toss back accomplishments. Throw him hostility, he’ll offer hope.

“As my football coach used to say, ‘Lots of luck in your senior year,’” he deadpanned at one point, mocking lawmakers who seemed to think high school was the same as the big leagues of Congress.

Biden baited Greene’s fellow Republicans into pledges of fealty to Social Security. When others pummeled him on the U.S.-Mexican dotted line—”secure the border”—Biden taunted them with an offer to work on comprehensive immigration reform. And when Republicans tried to lay blame at the ongoing drug addiction and overdose crisis at Biden’s feet, he simply asked Republicans if they’d work with him to combat it.

For as much as Democrats are gritting their teeth and girding for the worst when it comes to Biden’s likely 2024 campaign, Tuesday night’s State of the Union gave them reason to hold onto optimism. It wasn’t a robust reason, but it was sufficient. Biden showed he can keep his ground in the face of Republican attack; in fact, he seemed to delight in the heckling that came from the floor of the House. For every “liar”—and worse—that rose from the floor, Biden seemed ready with the rejoinder of his first-term economic record. For every peel of stage laughter coming from his physical left and his political right, Biden stood ready to offer some undeniably impressive facts. And for every protest to his trolling suggestion that Republicans were ready to ditch Social Security, Biden had a taunt right in the margins of his heavy black binder.

Biden’s third joint address to Congress set the tone not just for the next year but also his still-unannounced re-election campaign. Biden laid the trap of bipartisan collaboration as well as anyone in recent memory but also set the timer on some partisan timebombs.

Biden is convinced that he is the only Democrat in the land who can block Donald Trump’s return to the White House and is increasingly itchy to make his 2024 re-election bid real. He has effectively frozen the field of would-be challengers, resetting the nominating calendar in such a way that renders challengers as also-rans. He has never been a strong fundraiser or nurturer of outside moneybags, but the deep-pocketed allies are nonetheless ready to bankroll his efforts to stay in the gig that he has chased since his 20s.

So it’s worth considering Tuesday night’s State of the Union as the prologue to Biden’s next chapter, perhaps the final eighth volume in his Robert Caro-esque chronicle. (For the record, not that I’d write it: the first volume would be the first Senate race; Volume II: his Senate term ahead of the 1988 race; III: his return to the Senate; IV: the 2008 primary: V: his time as Vice President; VI: his time as a free radical from 2016-20; and VII: the last two years, leading us to the present.) Biden holds dear to him the spirit of Irish poets, in that the specter of legacy is always just barely off-stage and always above it. Biden wants wins, and his speech—and the interruptions to it—suggest a measure of confrontation is going to define it.

That said, Republicans weren’t entirely sure that the interludes of heckling and hectoring were useful to their side. In fact, plenty of Republicans groaned in the chamber and groused privately that the likes of Greene managed to make the speech into an interactive experience not terribly dissimilar to the British Parliament’s tradition of P.M. Questions. In public, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy shushed his caucus a number of times as they chucked invectives at Biden. More quietly—but still in view of the public—Utah Sen. Mitt Romney tried to silence a GOP House member who has proven plenty shameful to the brand. Romney—who in 2008 and 2012 thought he would do well to be giving a State of the Union himself as President—told Rep. George Santos that he was an embarrassment. Biden seemed to share that assessment, opting to see Santos and deny him a handshake on the aisle.

Again, Biden mightn’t be the most optimal nominee-in-waiting Democrats have ever had on deck, but he’s hardly the most problematic. And that, right there, is why Tuesday night’s State of the Union leaves a whole of the Democratic Party’s top donor roster less dour than they began their week. It’s also why the ragtag Republican contenders hoping to see a slow, doddering commander in chief ready to be put out to pasture were standing at the starting line with empty hands.

George Santos grabbed an aisle seat at the State of the Union. Not everyone was eager to shake his hand.

Insider

George Santos grabbed an aisle seat at the State of the Union. Not everyone was eager to shake his hand.

Nicole Gaudiano,Bryan Metzger and Warren Rojas – February 7, 2023

Republican Rep. George Santos of New York at the State of the Union address on February 7, 2023.Jacquelyn Martin-Pool/Getty Images

Embattled Rep. George Santos grabbed a premier center aisle seat ahead of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address.
That seating put him in a prime position to shake some hands.
But he soon discovered that not everyone, including some Republicans, was interested in seeing him.

Republican Rep. George Santos of New York grabbed a seat on the center aisle ahead of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, putting him in a prime position to shake some hands.

Seated beside Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Santos soon discovered that not everyone — including some Republicans — was interested in seeing him.

As they began to enter the chamber around 8:30 pm, several senators customarily shook hands with the scandal-plagued Long Island congressman, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Whip John Thune, Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, and even a couple of Democrats: Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Dick Durbin of Illinois.

But several senators were visibly uninterested, particularly Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah.

George Santos is talking with Mitt Romney pic.twitter.com/JSgAkXIby2
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 8, 2023

Other dignitaries who passed by Santos also passed over him, even as they shook hands with Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, seated on the other side of him. Among them was Vice President Kamala Harris.

Santos sat just in front of Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee and behind Rep. Trent Kelly of Mississippi.

Aside from reserved places for leadership, seats in the House chamber are not assigned to members of Congress during the State of the Union Address. Seats are reserved for senators as a group in the front of the chamber and House members sit behind them. House members can claim preferred spots during the day but they have to camp out there to reserve them for the entirety of the speech.

Many Republicans have spent the last month avoiding Santos, who is at the center of a media circus sparked by myriad lies on his resume and investigations of his campaign finances, and who has faced calls to resign from members not just within his own party, but from his home state delegation.

Many of those who spoke recently with Insider’s Bryan Metzger made it clear they wanted nothing to do with Santos.

But as Metzger noted, the congressman who initially sat by himself during his first days in office eventually found a “receptive crowd” among the chamber’s right-wing lawmakers.

Photos of Santos from earlier this session show him sitting between Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and fellow freshman Andy Ogles of Tennessee or with Rep. Pat Fallon of Texas, who told Metzger that Santos seems like a “nice guy.” Greene appears to have known Santos at least since 2020.

During the House speaker vote fight, Insider spotted Santos hanging out by Kevin McCarthy tormentors Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Lauren Boebert of Colorado.

In recent weeks, Insider has watched Santos roam around the chamber during votes. Sometimes that entails standing alone along the back wall as members weigh in on pending bills, while on at least one occasion he spent about 10 minutes chatting up fellow freshman GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida.

GOP on GOP: Romney scolds Santos, ‘You don’t belong here’

Associated Press

GOP on GOP: Romney scolds Santos, ‘You don’t belong here’

Lisa Mascaro and Mary Clare Jalonick – February 8, 2023

Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and other Republicans gather in the House Chamber before President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, Ind-Ariz., center, speaks with Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, left, and Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., right, and others, before President Joe Biden arrives to deliver his State of the Union speech to a joint session of Congress, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Rep.George Santos, R-N.Y., lower center, and other Republicans, gather in the House Chamber before President Joe Biden arrives to deliver his State of the Union speech to a joint session of Congress, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., talks with people before President Joe Biden arrives to deliver the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., sits as other Republicans stand as President Joe Biden talks about American manufacturing during the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, in Washington. (Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, leave after President Joe Biden delivered the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Rep. George Santos positioned himself in a prime location for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address — an uncomfortably prominent place for the embattled new lawmaker who faces multiple investigations and has acknowledged embellishing and even lying about his life story.

Santos’ presence at the center aisle to see and be seen with the arrivals was met with a stern rebuke from a fellow Republican, Sen. Mitt Romney.

“You don’t belong here,” the Utah Republican scolded Santos as he entered the House chamber and spotted the New York Republican on the aisle.

Words were exchanged, it was reported, though Romney said later he did not hear it all.

“He shouldn’t be in Congress, and they are going to go through the process and hopefully get him out,” Romney told reporters afterward, his office confirmed. “But he shouldn’t be there, and if he had any shame at all he wouldn’t be there.”

The exchange was an unusual lashing by the more reserved Romney, the Republican Party’s presidential nominee in 2012, but shows the discomfort Santos is bringing among traditional conservatives critical of the rightward drift of more extremist elements of the GOP.

Santos retorted with a tweet: “Hey @MittRomney just a reminder that you will NEVER be PRESIDENT!”

The arrival of Santos has been a problem for the Republicans since he won a New York congressional seat, which helped to deliver the party a slim majority, once his personal story began to unravel.

Santos has acknowledged fabricating, and at times lying, about parts of his education, work experience and even his family’s own religion and history.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy met privately with the congressman last week amid a swirl of potential investigations on and off Capitol Hill. Santos announced he would step aside from his committee assignments ahead of an expected House Ethics Committee probe.

McCarthy said Tuesday the situation with Santos would work its way through the House Ethics Committee. Fellow New York Republicans have called for Santos to resign from Congress. Santos faces other investigations beyond Congress.

Other Republicans heard the exchange and one Republican lawmaker who was told about it said there was widespread displeasure that Santos had situated himself in such a prominent spot. The lawmaker requested anonymity to discuss what others said about the subject.

The center aisle basically gave Santos the chance to seize the limelight by greeting the president and other prominent officials as they entered the House chamber and made their way down the aisle.

As senators entered the House in a line, it was then that Romney spotted Santos and delivered his message.

“I didn’t expect that he’d be standing there, trying to shake hands with every senator and the president of the United States,” Romney told reporters later.

Romney said that given the investigations, Santos “should be sitting the back row and staying quiet, instead of parading in front of the president and people coming into the room.”

But Santos, as is often the case, had his moment, becoming for a time the face of the GOP.

Putin likely supplied the missile that downed flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014, investigators say

Insider

Putin likely supplied the missile that downed flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014, investigators say

Sinéad Baker – February 8, 2023

Lawyers attend the judges' inspection of the reconstruction of the MH17 wreckage, as part of the murder trial ahead of the beginning of a critical stage, on May 26, 2021 in Reijen, Netherlands. — Lawyers attend the judges’ inspection of the MH17 wreckage, on May 26, 2021 in Reijen, Netherlands.Photo by Piroschka van de Wouw – Pool/Getty Images

Putin likely gave separatists the missile that hit flight MH17, investigators said on Wednesday.
298 people died when the Malaysian Airlines flight was shot down in 2014.
But prosecutors said they can’t pursue suspects due to the high bar of proof necessary.

Russian President Vladimir Putin likely supplied the missile system that shot down flight MH17 in July 2014, killing 298 people onboard, international investigators said on Wednesday.

The team has been investigating the crash since August 2014, and said in a statement that there are “strong indications” that the Russian president decided on supplying the missile system to separatists in Ukraine.

Investigators have previously said that the Malaysia Airlines plane was shot down by a Buk missile brought from Russia to a field in Ukraine.

They said on Wednesday that the separatists had asked for longer-range anti-aircraft systems and that there is “concrete information” that the separatists’ request was presented to the Russian president, and that this request was granted.

But, they added, it’s not known whether their request explicitly mentioned the missile system that was later used to shoot down MH17.

Nor was it ultimately clear if Putin “deliberately assisted in the downing of MH17.”

Russia has always denied any involvement in the fate of the plane.

Investigators said on Wednesday that the evidence was not strong enough to formally accuse Putin.

“Although we speak of strong indications, the high bar of complete and conclusive evidence is not reached. Furthermore, the President enjoys immunity in his position as Head of State,” they said in the statement.

Prosecutors also said on Monday that they did not have enough evidence to pursue criminal proceedings against anyone else associated with the crash.

A Dutch court sentenced three men — Russian nationals Igor Girkin and Sergey Dubinskiy and Ukrainian national Leonid Kharchenko — to life in prison last November over the downing of the plane. But the men are still at large.

The plane, a Boeing 777, was flying from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was shot down over eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists had taken over parts of the country.

MH17 inquiry: ‘Strong indications’ Putin OK’d missile supply

Associated Press

MH17 inquiry: ‘Strong indications’ Putin OK’d missile supply

Mike Corder – February 8, 2023

Digna van Boetzelaer, the Netherlands, Andy Kraag, the Netherlands, David McLean, Australia, Asha Hoe Soo Lian, Malaysia, Eric van der Sypt, Belgium, and Oleksandr Bannyk, Ukraine, from left to right, are seen during the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) holds a news conference in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023, on the results of the ongoing investigation into other parties involved in the downing of flight MH17 on 17 July 2014. The JIT investigated the crew of the Buk-TELAR, a Russian made rocket launcher, and those responsible for supplying this Russian weapon system that downed MH17. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong) — Netherlands Ukraine MH17
Digna van Boetzelaer, the Netherlands, Andy Kraag, the Netherlands, David McLean, Australia, Asha Hoe Soo Lian, Malaysia, Eric van der Sypt, Belgium, and Oleksandr Bannyk, Ukraine, from left to right, are seen during the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) holds a news conference in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023.

FILE - People walk amongst the debris at the crash site of a passenger plane near the village of Grabovo, Ukraine, July 17, 2014. An international team is presenting an update Wednesday Feb. 8, 2023 on its investigation into the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine. The announcement comes nearly three months after a Dutch court convicted two Russians and a Ukrainian rebel for their roles in shooting down the Boeing 777 and killing all 298 people on board on July 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky, File) — People walk amongst the debris at the crash site of a passenger plane near the village of Grabovo, Ukraine, July 17, 2014. An international team is presenting an update Wednesday Feb. 8, 2023 on its investigation into the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine. The announcement comes nearly three months after a Dutch court convicted two Russians and a Ukrainian rebel for their roles in shooting down the Boeing 777 and killing all 298 people on board on July 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky, File)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — An international team of investigators said Wednesday it found “strong indications” that Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the supply of heavy anti-aircraft weapons to Ukrainian separatists who shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014 with a Russian missile.

However, members of the Joint Investigation Team said they had insufficient evidence to prosecute Putin or any other suspects and they suspended their 8½-year inquiry into the shooting down that killed all 298 people on board the Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

Russia has always denied any involvement in the downing of the flight over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, and refused to cooperate with the international investigation.

Dutch prosecutors said that “there are strong indications that the Russian president decided on supplying” a Buk missile system — the weapon that downed MH17 — to Ukrainian separatists.

“Although we speak of strong indications, the high bar of complete and conclusive evidence is not reached,” Dutch prosecutor Digna van Boetzelaer said, adding that without Russian cooperation, “the investigation has now reached its limit. All leads have been exhausted.”

She also said that, as head of state, Putin would have immunity from prosecution in the Netherlands. The team played a recording of an intercepted phone call in which they said Putin could be heard discussing the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

“Are we disappointed? No, because we think we came further than we had ever thought in 2014. Would we have liked to come further? Of course, yes,” said Andy Kraag of the Dutch police.

The team informed relatives of those killed in the downing of MH17 of their findings before making them public.

“There was disappointment because … they wanted to know why MH17 was shot down,” Kraag said. “We’re really clear on what has happened, but the answer to the question why MH17 was shot down still remains in Russia.”

Van Boetzelaer said that while the investigation is being suspended, phone lines will remain open for possible witnesses who may still want to provide evidence. If that happens, the inquiry could be reactivated.

Russian officials say that a decision to provide rebels with military support over the summer of 2014 was in Putin’s hands.

A decision to supply arms was even postponed for a week “because there is only one who makes a decision (…), the person who is currently at a summit in France,” the investigative team said, citing a phone conversation that was referring to Putin.

Prosecutors said that at the time Putin was at a commemoration of D-Day in France.

The announcement by the investigative team comes nearly three months after a Dutch court convicted two Russians and a Ukrainian rebel for their roles in shooting down the plane. One Russian was acquitted by the court.

None of the suspects appeared for the trial and it was unclear if the three who were found guilty of multiple murders will ever serve their sentences.

The convictions and the court’s finding that the surface-to-air Buk missile came from a Russian military base were seen as a clear indication that Moscow had a role in the tragedy. Russia has always denied involvement. The Russian Foreign Ministry accused the court in November of bowing to pressure from Dutch politicians, prosecutors and the news media.

But the November convictions held that Moscow was in overall control in 2014 over the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, the separatist area of eastern Ukraine where the missile was launched. The Buk missile system came from the Russian military’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, based in the city of Kursk.

The Joint Investigation Team is made up of experts from the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia, Belgium and Ukraine. Most of the victims were Dutch. It had continued to investigate the crew of the missile system that brought down the plane and those who ordered its deployment in Ukraine.

As well as the criminal trial that was held in the Netherlands, the Dutch and Ukrainian governments are suing Russia at the European Court of Human Rights over its alleged role in the downing of MH17.

The findings revealed Wednesday will likely strengthen the case at the human rights court and could also be used by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court who are investigating possible war crimes in Ukraine dating back to the start of the separatist conflict.

Biden, Republicans engage in fiery debt ceiling back-and-forth during State of the Union address

Yahoo! News

Biden, Republicans engage in fiery debt ceiling back-and-forth during State of the Union address

David Knowles, Senior Editor – February 7, 2023

President Biden and Republican lawmakers engaged in an animated back-and-forth during Tuesday’s State of the Union address over whether to raise the debt ceiling.

“Some of my Republican friends want to take the economy hostage, I get it,” Biden said over threats made by Republican lawmakers to insist on spending cuts before they would agree to raise debt ceiling, “unless I agree to their economic plan. All of you at home should know what those plans are.”

As Biden continued his speech, a handful of Republicans began voicing their displeasure, calling out and interrupting the president.

Joe Biden with Kamala Harris and Kevin McCarthy — President Biden delivers the State of the Union address as Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy look on. (Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via AP)

“Instead of making the wealthy pay their fare share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security sunset,” Biden said as many Republican booed him.

“Anybody who doubts it,” Biden said as a chorus of Republican boos ensued, “contact my office, I’ll give you a copy of the proposal.”

As Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, continued to boo and taunt the president, he quipped, “That’s OK, I enjoy conversation.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene heckling President Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

“If Congress doesn’t keep the programs the way they are, they can go away, Republicans say. I’m not saying it’s a majority of you. I don’t even think it’s a significant majority—” Biden said before being cut off by more jeering. “It’s being proposed by individuals. I’m politely not naming them, but it’s being proposed by some of you.”

At one point, Greene could be heard calling Biden a liar.

“The idea is, we’re not going to be moved into being threatened to default on the debt if we don’t respond,” Biden said, drawing applause from his Democratic colleagues.

After Republican curtailed their vocal objections, Biden concluded by saying, “So folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books now, right? They’re not to be touched. All right.”

That again gave Democrats something to cheer.

While it’s unusual for lawmakers to shout during presidential addresses to Congress, it’s not entirely unprecedented. In 2009, Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., yelled out “You lie!” during a health care speech by President Barack Obama.

Wilson’s outburst was roundly criticized by Republican leaders at the time and he quickly issued an apology.

Romney tells embattled Republican George Santos he ‘shouldn’t be in Congress’

Reuters

Romney tells embattled Republican George Santos he ‘shouldn’t be in Congress’

February 7, 2023

U.S. Senators at the U.S. Capitol in Washington

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Mitt Romney told embattled fellow Republican Representative George Santos on Tuesday that should not be in Congress and shouldn’t have taken a central seat at President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.

Romney, an elder statesman of the party and former Republican presidential candidate, was seen having a brief exchange with Santos, who has made multiple false claims about his past on his way into the House of Representatives chamber before the address.

“He shouldn’t be in Congress and they’re going to go through the process and hopefully get him out,” Romney told reporters after the speech. “But he shouldn’t be there and if he had any shame at all he wouldn’t be there.”

Romney said he had told Santos as much.

Santos, who represents a New York district, had taken a seat along the center aisle of the chamber, which the president, members of this Cabinet, Supreme Court justices and senators use to enter the hall.

Santos is facing ethics complaints from fellow members of Congress, but the House Ethics Committee has yet to organize for the next two years and thus cannot launch any potential investigation, an aide to Speaker Kevin McCarthy said earlier on Tuesday.

Santos has apologized for “embellishing” his resume but has rebuffed calls for his resignation from constituents and fellow New York state Republicans, saying he would vacate his seat only if he loses the next election, in 2024.

(Reporting by Gram Slattery; Editing by Scott Malone and Howard Goller)

C-SPAN captured a tense back-and-forth between George Santos and Mitt Romney at the State of the Union

Insider

C-SPAN captured a tense back-and-forth between George Santos and Mitt Romney at the State of the Union

Bryan Metzger – February 7, 2023

George Santos and Mitt Romney had what appeared to be a tense exchange at the State of the Union.
C-SPAN cameras captured the interaction, but the two men gave competing accounts.
Following the speech, Santos tweeted that Romney “will NEVER be PRESIDENT!”

Before President Joe Biden entered the chamber to deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening, Rep. George Santos found himself in an apparently tense conversation with fellow Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah.

C-SPAN cameras captured the tense interaction between Santos — the scandal-plagued Long Island congressman — and Romney, the party’s 2012 presidential nominee.

Following the speech, the Utah Republican told reporters that Santos is a “sick puppy” who “shouldn’t have been there.”

“He should be sitting in the back row and being quiet instead of parading in front of the president,” he told reporters, noting the ethics inquiries Santos faces.

Santos — not exactly the most reliable interlocutor — claimed to Semafor’s Kadia Goba that Romney called him an “ass” and that Santos retorted that Romney is a “much bigger asshole.”

And according to CNN, Romney simply told Santos: “You don’t belong here.”

Santos sat in a seat on the center aisle beside fellow Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, giving him the opportunity to shake dignitaries’ hands as they entered the chamber.

He could be seen shaking hands with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Whip John Thune, Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, and even a couple of Democrats: Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Dick Durbin of Illinois.

Following the speech, Santos tweeted that Romney “will NEVER be PRESIDENT!”

Black ‘1870’ pins worn by Congress members for State of the Union have deep significance

Yahoo! News

Black ‘1870’ pins worn by Congress members for State of the Union have deep significance

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus wore black pins with the number “1870” on them, which marks the year of the first known police killing of an unarmed and free Black person in the U.S.

Marquise Francis, National Reporter – February 7, 2023

Black '1870' pin — An “1870” pin to be worn by members of the Congressional Black Caucus and others at the State of the Union address. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos courtesy of the office of Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Jabin Botsford/Washington Post via Getty Images)

At President Biden’s State of the Union speech Tuesday in which he addressed the country’s top issues before Congress, members of the Congressional Black Caucus and other Democrats made a bold statement of their own — albeit a silent one.

Many of them wore black pins with the number “1870” on them, which marks the year of the first known police killing of an unarmed and free Black person that occurred in the U.S. The pins are a call for action on reforming the institution of policing that has killed thousands of Black people in the 153 years since.

“I’m tired of moments of silence. I’m tired of periods of mourning,” New Jersey Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, a Democrat who came up with the idea to create the pins, told Yahoo News ahead of the speech. “I wanted to highlight that police killings of unarmed Black citizens have been in the news since 1870, and yet significant action has yet to be taken.”

On March 31, 1870, 26-year-old Henry Truman, a Black man, was shot and killed by Philadelphia Officer John Whiteside after being accused of shoplifting from a grocery store.

Whiteside had allegedly chased Truman into an alley when at some point Truman turned to ask what he had done wrong, and the officer fatally shot him, according to an account in the Philadelphia Inquirer the following day. At trial, Whiteside claimed he had been ambushed by a crowd while he chased Truman. Whiteside was later convicted of manslaughter. That same year the country adopted the 15th Amendment, which granted Black men the right to vote.

Over a century and a half since Truman’s killing, a steady stream of Black people have been killed by law enforcement, including 1,353 since 2017, according to data from Statista, a digital insights company. In fact, Black Americans are three times as likely to be killed by police as white people are, and they account for 1 in 4 police killings despite making up just 13% of the country’s population.

Many of the parents, siblings and children of Black people killed by police over the last decade were invited to Tuesday’s address as guests of members of the Congressional Black Caucus. The guest list included the families of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old who was gunned down by Cleveland police in 2014 on a playground; Amir Locke, the 22-year-old fatally shot by Minneapolis police in a predawn, no-knock raid last year; Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old fatally beaten by Memphis police during a traffic stop early last month; and a dozen other families who have lost loved ones.

“I hope today that we can get Congress to see that we need to pass this bill because this should never happen,” Nichols’s mother, RowVaughn Wells, said Tuesday afternoon at a press conference with the Congressional Black Caucus. “I don’t wish this on my worst enemy.”

Rep. Steven Horsford, left, with RowVaughn Wells — RowVaughn Wells, mother of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers, speaks with reporters on Tuesday about police reform. (Cliff Owen/AP)

In contrast, several Republicans chose to honor members of law enforcement as their guests, including Rep. Mike Garcia of California, who brought Tania Owen, a retired detective and widow of a Los Angeles County sheriff’s sergeant who was shot and killed by a suspect when he answered a burglary-in-progress call in 2016. Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York and Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon hosted police officers from their respective districts.

The invitations came after several other Republicans last week, during National Gun Violence Survivors Week, were photographed wearing AR-15 pins, which were passed out by Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia on the House floor. Clyde claimed the pins were “to remind people of the Second Amendment of the Constitution and how important it is in preserving our liberties.”

Many police reform advocates have argued that the systemic issues tied to policing transcend even racial lines, highlighting the fact that the five main officers involved in the brutal beating of Nichols were also Black.

“Blackness doesn’t shield you from all of the forces that make police violence possible,” James Forman Jr., a Yale law school professor and expert on race and law enforcement, told the New York Times. “What are the theories of policing and styles of policing, the training that police receive? All of those dynamics that propel violence and brutality are more powerful than the race of the officer.”

Karundi Williams, CEO of Re:power, an organization that trains Black people to become political leaders, told NBC News that addressing the core issues is the only way to prevent more killings.

“When we have moments of racial injustice that is thrust in the national spotlight, there is an uptick of outrage, and people take to the streets,” Williams said. “But then the media tends to move on to other things, and that consciousness decreases. But we never really got underneath the problem.”

Protesters gather at the Oscar Grant Plaza in Oakland, Calif., to protest the police killing of Tyre Nichols in Memphis — Protesters in Oakland, Calif., on Jan. 29 to protest the police killing of Tyre Nichols in Memphis. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

In 2022 alone, police killed 1,192 people, more than any year in the past decade, according to a new report released last week by the nonprofit Mapping Police Violence. Black people accounted for more than 300 of those killings. The report also claimed that many of these killings could have been avoided by changing law enforcement’s approach to such encounters, such as sending mental health providers to certain 911 calls.

But substantial police reform has continued to lag.

The 2021 George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which was put forth following the murder of 46-year-old Floyd by Minneapolis police in 2020, seeks to end excessive force, qualified immunity and racial bias in policing and to combat police misconduct. The bill passed the House of Representatives twice in the previous Congress, but has continued to fail in the Senate.

“With the support of families of victims, civil rights groups, and law enforcement, I signed an executive order for all federal officers banning chokeholds, restricting no-knock warrants, and other key elements of the George Floyd Act,” Biden said in his State of the Union speech. “Let’s commit ourselves to make the words of Tyre’s mother come true, something good must come from this.”

Following the recent police killing of Nichols, members of the Black Caucus are cautiously optimistic that change will soon come.

“This unfortunately reignites the fervor and the necessity and the urgency,” Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, a ranking member of the Judiciary Subcommittee for Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations, recently told Yahoo News. “With 18,000 police communities, there has to be a federal law that addresses the training and the relationship between police. We have to restart.”

President Biden and Vice President Harris meet with members of the Congressional Black Caucus in the Oval Office last week — President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris meet with members of the Congressional Black Caucus in the Oval Office last week. (Susan Walsh/AP)

An info card attached to the black pin given to members of the Black Caucus expresses the frustration of numerous police killings from Truman to Nichols.

“153 years later, nothing has changed,” the note reads in part. “We are tired of mourning and demand change.”

McCarthy warns Republicans not to misbehave at State of the Union, promises no ‘childish games’ like Pelosi’s infamous speech tearing moment

Business Insider

McCarthy warns Republicans not to misbehave at State of the Union, promises no ‘childish games’ like Pelosi’s infamous speech tearing moment

Oma Seddiq, Nicole Gaudiano – February 7, 2023

Kevin McCarthy, Nancy Pelosi — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy; former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images; MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

McCarthy swiped at Pelosi ahead of Biden’s state of the union address on Tuesday.
“We’re not going to do childish games tearing up a speech,” he told CNN.
Pelosi infamously ripped up a copy of Trump’s speech after his 2020 SOTU address.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy insisted that Republicans would show proper decorum during President Joe Biden’s state of the union address on Tuesday evening, swiping at former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s viral moment tearing up former President Donald Trump’s speech during his 2020 speech.

“We’re members of Congress. We have a code of ethics of how we should portray ourselves,” McCarthy told CNN’s Manu Raju on Tuesday. “And that’s exactly what we’ll do. But we’re not going to do childish games tearing up a speech.”

Privately, however, McCarthy has expressed concerns about his own caucus’ behavior and has warned them about their conduct, according to CNN’s Melanie Zanona.

Pelosi made headlines when she ripped up a copy of Trump’s speech after he delivered his third state of the union address three years ago. The top Democrat at the time remarked to reporters that “it was a courteous thing to do, considering the alternatives.”

“It was such a dirty speech,” she said.

McCarthy, the newly elected House speaker, will take Pelosi’s previous seat on the platform behind Biden during his address on Tuesday night. The president is planning to lay out his plans to advance his “unity agenda” this year, including policies to fight cancer, help veterans, provide mental health treatment, and fight opioid addiction.

In a closed-door meeting with the House Republican conference on Tuesday, McCarthy and other GOP leaders warned their members to behave during the address, CNN’s Melanie Zanona wrote.

The “cameras are on,” and the “mics are hot,” House GOP leadership reportedly said in the meeting.

Republicans in the past have made headlines with outbursts during past presidential State of the Union speeches, which are viewed by millions.

Rep. Lauren Boehbert of Colorado heckled Biden last year when he talked about how his son Beau’s death may have been linked to burn-pit exposure during his Iraq deployment. She shouted that he put “13 of them” in coffins, a reference to 13 American troops who were killed in Afghanistan during the US’ chaotic withdrawal.

Boehbert and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia also tried to start a “build the wall” chant last year during Biden’s speech.

Former President Barack Obama later said he was “shocked” and wanted to “smack” Rep. Joe Wilson, a South Carolina Republican, for yelling “you lie” during Obama’s 2009 State of the Union Address when he was talking about his plans for the Affordable Care Act.

“My initial instinct is, ‘Let me walk down and smack this guy on the head. What is he thinking?'” Obama said during a CBS interview in 2020 when his book “A Promised Land” was released. “And instead, I just said, ‘That’s not true,’ and I just move on. He called afterward to apologize – although, as I point out in the book, he saw a huge spike in campaign contributions to him from Republicans across the country who thought he had done something heroic.”