Republican lawmakers booed and heckled US President Joe Biden during his speech at a joint session of Congress early this month.
The controversy arose after Biden blasted the Republicans while talking about controversies thrown against him, including the ongoing US-Mexico border crisis and China’s suspected surveillance of the United States, putting the latter’s national security at risk.
For instance, after Biden brought up the controversy on Medicare and Social Security, alleging that a few Republicans have suggested sunsetting the programs, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) blasted the President, calling him a “liar.”
Biden then responded to the lawmakers and said, “So folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books now, right? Alright.”
Following the controversial speech, Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie who is also a Republican released a statement, claiming that by booing President Biden during his speech, Republicans were falling for the president’s “bait.”
Joe Biden finally mentions the border for all of 30 seconds, but House Republicans chanted “secure the border.”
It seemed to throw Biden off momentarily.@OANN pic.twitter.com/z000mA6XmR— Daniel Baldwin (@baldwin_daniel_) February 8, 2023
In an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on Sunday, Christie claimed that “Big mistake. Look, you know, you don’t want to — you don’t want to rise to the bait. And they did, a number of them did, and it was a big mistake.”
He also added that “the better response would have been to respond to that with laughter,” adding that Republicans should have just “moved on.”
“The yelling and the screaming stuff, look, I think that’s always bad. It doesn’t get you anywhere. And it gave Joe Biden an opportunity to engage them back in a way that was spontaneous, that I think was probably the best part of his entire speech.” Christie said.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reportedly issued a warning to the GOP earlier that day and cautioned them against resorting to “childish” behavior during the speech.
However, despite the warning, some Republican lawmakers heckled the President with Greene being the rowdiest especially when Biden talked about the tense relationship between the US and China.
“China spied on us.” Greene shouted.
Following the controversial event, Greene released a statement during an interview with The New York Times on Wednesday, claiming that she was not worried about being reprimanded by McCarthy for her behavior at the State of the Union address.
“I have the speaker’s support, and he has mine,” Greene told The Times.
