Biden’s ‘Overly Partisan’ Speech to Blame for Heckling: Speaker Mike Johnson

President Joe Biden shakes hands with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) as Vice President Kamala Harris applauds after the president delivered the State of the Union address during a joint meeting of Congress in the House chamber at the Capitol, on March 07, 2024. Win McNamee/Getty Images

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has claimed Republican lawmakers who heckled President Joe Biden during his State of the Union address on March 7 did so in response to an “overly partisan speech.”

Mr. Johnson made the comments to reporters after President Biden struck a decisively political tone during his annual speech to Congress, taking every opportunity to criticize his rival, former President Donald Trump.

The president also touched on an array of other topics, including the ongoing influx of illegal immigrants at the southern border, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza during his address.

He also repeatedly blamed Republicans, including President Trump, for many of the issues currently plaguing the nation which garnered mixed reactions from those in attendance, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).

Some Republicans simply walked out on the president while he was mid-way through his speech.

Mr. Johnson told reporters that emotions were running high among GOP lawmakers who believed the president had made multiple incorrect statements during his address, prompting a strong reaction from them.

“People got very emotional tonight because it was an overly partisan speech and it was filled full of information that is just objectively not true. And so you saw the visceral reaction, I think, from people in the chamber and I suspect that a lot of people at home were feeling that same frustration,” the speaker said.

Republican Anger Laken Riley Murder

Ahead of President Biden’s State of the Union address, Mr. Johnson had reportedly urged Republican lawmakers to maintain decorum during a closed-door conference meeting.

However, his pleas appeared to have gone unheard when Ms. Greene began to shout over the president, demanding that he recognize the death of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley who was allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant last month.

Ms. Riley, 22, was murdered at Augusta University’s Athens campus while jogging through a wooded area. Her death sparked widespread criticism of President Biden amid what Republicans say are his administration’s lax border policies.

“It’s about Laken Riley” the Georgia Republican, dressed in a “Make America Great Again” hat and a “Say Her Name Laken Riley” T-shirt, yelled.

In response, President Biden held up a Laken Riley pin Ms. Greene had given him before his speech.

“Lincoln Riley an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal,” President Biden said, incorrectly pronouncing the young woman’s name. “To her parents, I say my heart goes out to you having lost children myself. I understand.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) calls out as President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address during a joint meeting of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol, on March 7, 2024. Win McNamee/Getty Images

‘Tell Hunter to Pay His Taxes’

Later during his speech, Ms. Greene interrupted President Biden again when he spoke of ensuring wealthy Americans pay their share of taxes, this time shouting, “Tell Hunter to pay his taxes,” seemingly referencing President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.

Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to nine tax charges after failing to pay at least $1.4 million in federal taxes he owed from 2016 through 2019.

Other GOP lawmakers appeared to be equally as emotional during President Biden’s speech, including Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.), who told Politico he had quietly left the speech early because he “didn’t want to listen to the president get up there and spout lies.”

Elsewhere, Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) appeared in the chamber wearing a T-shirt with an image of President Trump taken when he turned himself in at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Georgia, last year. Alongside the photo were the words: “Never surrender.”

However, it wasn’t only Republicans who used President Biden’s speech to make a statement; three Democrats, Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), all attended the speech dressed in keffiyehs, the traditional Palestinian scarf, amid Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, Politico reported.

Elsewhere, Reps. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) and Greg Casar (D-Texas) donned “ceasefire” pins calling for a pause in the Israel-Hamas war which has prompted a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Despite the heckling, Mr. Johnson told reporters he believed his earlier pleas to Republicans to maintain decorum during President Biden’s speech were “mostly” followed.

“We emphasized decorum, I think mostly that was respected tonight, and that was a good thing for the country,” he told reporters.