President Joe Biden was loudly booed by Republicans during his State of the Union address when he mentioned plans championed by some in the party to cut or sunset Medicare and Social Security benefits.
The tense moment culminated in a momentary back-and-forth with some members, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who took to shouting at the commander-in-chief as he delivered his speech.
“Some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset. I’m not saying it’s a majority,” Biden said, before loud boos forced him to pause. “Let me give you—anybody who doubts it can contact my office. I’ll give you a copy,” Biden countered, to a renewed round of shouts—including someone who yelled “Bullshit!”
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Greene, clad in a conspicuously large, fur-lined white coat, at one point even shouted “Liar!” She also tweeted shortly after the viral moment: “Joe Biden is lying to the American People.”
“I tell you what, I enjoy conversion,” Biden quipped, before moving on.
The plan to sunset Medicare and Social Security was originally proposed by Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who is also the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, in his “11 Point Plan to Rescue America.”
Biden’s back-and-forth with his Republican colleagues on entitlement programs was the most notable moment from a night filled with conflict—despite newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s pre-State of the Union pleas for his caucus to “behave.”
On several other occasions, Republicans took to heckling the president as he tried to speak over their shouts, including several instances where GOP members in both chambers jibed Biden about the border.
He was even forced to address the rowdy, border-hungry crowd at one point while talking about the recent rise in deaths attributed to the drug fentanyl, saying calmly, “we’ll get there” before transitioning into a section on border security and its role in tackling the opioid crisis.
In another moment that inspired more than a few mutterings on the Democratic side of the aisle, one Republican shouted “It’s your fault” after fentanyl was mentioned.
Greene also turned heads by shouting “China is spying on us”—though by that point nobody seemed to be fazed by the behavior, including Biden.
