GOP Congress members heckle Biden during State of The Union address

Some members of the Republican House majority made themselves the center of attention on Tuesday night at President Biden’s State of the Union address, interrupting the traditional speech by heckling him several times.

Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was caught on a hot mic shouting “You lie!” and “Liar!” at the president after he claimed some Republicans want to sunset the Social Security and Medicare entitlement programs in the coming years. In the moment, Biden responded from the dais saying,  “I’m not saying it’s a majority of you, I’m not even saying it’s a significant [portion] … but it’s being proposed by some.” Biden was referring to Sen. Rick Scott’s 2022 plan to have all federal laws “sunset” after five years, to be voted upon again. According to Scott, “[i]f a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again.”

Later in the address, when the president turned his focus to China, who floated an unmanned surveillance balloon over the continental US last week, another Republican lawmaker was heard shouting, “China spied on us!” Biden assured Congress and the nation in his speech, “I’m committed to work with China where we can advance American interests and benefit the world. But make no mistake about it: as we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did.”

While House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has defended the Republican hecklers as “passionate” in the wake of the State of the Union address, Democrats have expressed their disdain for the way the hecklers acted during the speech. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Shumer appeared on “Morning Joe” to discuss the SoTU. “It showed just that Biden was talking to the average American, and the contrast of these guys screaming and yelling and throwing junk on the wall, and not having a plan, just calling names,” he said. “I think is going to serve the president so well and it’s going to serve the country well.”