Trump previously refused to apologize for the racist video that depicted Barack and Michelle Obama as apes in a Truth Social post
Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Texas Rep. Al Green disrupted President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, Feb. 24, with a sign that read “Black People Aren’t Apes”
- The sign referenced a racist video depicting former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as apes, previously shared on the president’s Truth Social account earlier in February
- Green was removed from the Capitol after he held up his sign
Texas Rep. Al Green disrupted President Donald Trump's State of the Union address on Tuesday, Feb. 24, with a sign that read "Black People Aren't Apes" in reference to a racist video depicting former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as apes previously shared on Trump's Truth Social account.
Green, 78, held up the black-and-white sign while supporting himself with his cane. He was later removed from the room.
In an interview with NBC News after he was removed, the Texas Democrat said, "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 flashed this to the president," he told NBC News, gesturing to his sign. "There will be no question, this is where I stand. 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 would tell him. And on some issues it's better to stand alone than not stand at all."
The scene Green's sign referred to was included towards the end of a video Trump, 79, shared on Truth Social on Feb. 5, featuring unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud during the 2020 election.
The clip showed Barack and Michelle Obama's faces superimposed on the bodies of two animated apes dancing to the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."
Trump's account reposted the clip without a caption. When approached for comment about the video by PEOPLE on Feb. 6, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, "This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from The Lion King."
Credit: Kenny Holston-Pool/Getty
"Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public," she added.
By that afternoon, the post had been deleted from Trump's page amid widespread backlash, including from Republican lawmakers. A White House official told PEOPLE in an updated statement, "A White House staffer erroneously made the post. It has been taken down."
Speaking with reporters on Air Force One on Feb. 6, Trump was asked by a journalist whether or not he would apologize for the video.
In response to the journalist's question, the president replied, "No, I didn't make a mistake."
Credit: Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty
"I mean I look at a lot of thousands of things. I looked at the beginning of it. It was fine," Trump continued. "I guess it was a take off on The Lion King and certainly it was a very strong post in terms of voter fraud." After Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, Trump has repeatedly made debunked claims that the election was stolen from him.
"Nobody knew that that was in the end. If they would have seen it and probably they would have had the sense to take it down," Trump said.
Green was previously removed from the Capitol for disrupting Trump's State of the Union speech on March 4, 2025. He waved his cane and shouted "No mandate!" at Trump, prompting Green's removal by the House sergeant at arms.
A group of Democrats joined Green in singing "We Shall Overcome" after he was censured on March 6, 2025, for interrupting Trump's speech to Congress earlier that week.
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The House voted to censure Green in a 244-198 split, with 10 Democrats joining Republicans in voting in favor of the motion. Two members of Congress, one of whom was Green, voted present.
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