Rep. Al Green reacts to praise for early call to impeach Trump in 2019
EXCLUSIVE: The Texas congressman reflects with theGrio after being acknowledged on the House floor for his foresight in the push to impeach President Trump
On the House floor on Wednesday as the U.S. House of Representatives debated on the rules portion to impeach President Donald John Trump for a second time, there was a special recognition of Texas Congressman Al Green for his early attempts to impeach Trump long before this consequential moment in history.
Maryland Congressman Steny Hoyer acknowledged Rep. Green on Wednesday during a debate on the rules of the article on impeachment. His comments came before a rule vote that preceded the debate on impeachment.
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Green in July 2019 introduced articles of impeachment that were ultimately tabled. At the time, Green wanted to impeach President Trump due to his racist tweets, his targeting of four Democratic congresswomen of color, and his infamous 2017 comments calling neo-Nazis “very fine people” following the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Today, Jan. 13, 2020, members of the U.S. House are crediting Green for his foresight. An emotional Green says he is thankful for the acknowledgment.
“I want to first say that I should have thanked Mr. Hoyer. He did not have to come to the floor with that message, and I think that what he did was to allow for the people who were there at the genesis of this to be noted,” Green exclusively told theGrio.
Some of those at the very beginning who supported the impeachment effort were lawmakers like California Congresswoman Maxine Waters and Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen.
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The 2019 impeachment effort led by Green concluded that Trump was “unfit for office.” Only 95 members of the House of Representatives signed onto Green’s resolution.
“That was when we reached critical mass,” Green said. “I was very much concerned about the president’s behavior and his invidious discrimination. The second one had to do with the president’s putting his bigotry into policy. All of these were really about one thing, and that was the way the president weaponized his hate and he does it very efficiently and effectively.“
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Congressman Green has paid a price for speaking up and calling for the impeachment of President Trump. Death threats and other incidents — including being screamed at by Trump supporters at an airport — following his introduction of the resolution have at times required him to have additional law enforcement protection when in public places.
Green is in full support of the effort to impeach Trump for a historic second time, calling it very ”sad.” The congressman was on the Hill Jan. 6 and decided not to go to an undisclosed area of safety with his other congressional leaders. He instead chose to stay with his staff in their office that was not touched by the domestic terrorists and insurrectionists.
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