MSNBC Host Asks Censured Trump Heckler Al Green If Other Dems Are ‘TOO Civil’ While Freedom is ‘Literally On The Line’

After disrupting the State of the Union with heckling and objections to President Donald Trump this week, Rep. Al Green (D-TX) was censured in a bipartisan House vote, but told MSNBC on Saturday that he’d “do it again” and would rather “stand alone” than not at all.

Green was formally censured in a House vote on Thursday that was itself disrupted, after he interrupted Trump several times during the State of the Union Address on Tuesday night. The Texas Democrat was escorted from the joint session over the disruptions and faced criticism even from a few Democrats over the outbursts.

Green appeared on MSNBC’s Velshi Saturday and spoke with guest host and MSNBC Legal Analyst Melissa Murray about the events of the week, during which they talked about whether being “too civil” is a major failing on the part of Democrats.

“Do you think your colleagues in the Democratic Party are being too civil during this time when American rights and freedoms are literally on the line?” Green asked.

“I believe that we have to move forward with righteous incivility,” Green replied in part. “This is what we engaged in when we sang ‘We Shall Overcome, and what I engaged in when I stood and indicated that the President didn’t have a mandate to cut Medicaid.”

He added that he acts on his conscience, telling Murray, “My conscience dictated that I do what I did. I am prepared to accept whatever the punishment is. I don’t have to agree with it, but I can accept it because that’s what peaceful protest demands.”

Murray noted that ten Democrats voted with Republicans to censure him, and asked, “Were you surprised that you didn’t have the full support of the Democratic caucus?”

“I was neither surprised nor elated one way or another. I did this not to get a read of what the Congress is all about. It was something that happened rather spontaneously,” Green explained. “I was gathering my things to leave when the president said he had a mandate, and that triggered something in me. I just could not allow him to cause people to think that he may have a mandate to cut Trump’s Medicaid.”

He concluded by dismissing any potential concerns over how his colleagues viewed his actions.

“So the reading that I got from my colleagues doesn’t impact me one way or another,” he said. “I believe that on some issues it is better to stand alone than not stand at all.”

Watch the clip above via MSNBC.