Republicans heckle Biden during State of the Union

About halfway through President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., could be heard calling Biden a “liar.” Biden had said Republicans were planning a bill to sunset Medicaid and Medicare. But many Republicans have since said that is not true. Later, his speech was interrupted by “boos” and calls to “secure the border.” Several Republicans, including Greene, have confirmed they were vocally opposing Biden.

Is heckling normal during State of the Union speeches? The State of the Union address has gone through many stages since former President George Washington gave the first address. One of the most recent iterations of pushback from the opposing party was refusal to applaud or stand. In 2009, Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., shouted “you lie” during former President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address. Afterward, Wilson apologized to the White House, and the Republican Party formally rebuked him. But by 2020, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., ripped up a copy of former President Donald Trump’s speech during his address. She later called it a “manifesto of mistruths.”

Dig deeper: Listen to Mary Reichard’s report on The World and Everything in It podcast about what comes after the State of the Union address.