Anti-gun rights activist and the father of a Parkland school shooting victim, Fred Guttenberg, was asked to leave President Donald Trump’s annual State of the Union (SOTU) address on Tuesday night after the activist heckled the president for vowing to protect Americans’ Second Amendment rights.
Mr. Guttenberg shouted about gun control when Trump vowed that he would “always protect your Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.”
The father attended the SOTU address as a guest of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
According to the New York Post, the speaker “turned to the gallery with a stern look after the disruption and muttered something under her breath” after Guttenberg’s outburst.
The father, who tragically lost his 14-year-old daughter Jaime during the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, is a constant activist against gun rights.
In September, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) met with both actress/left-wing activist Alyssa Milano and Guttenberg to discuss the Second Amendment.
“I am always grateful for the opportunity to engage in positive, civil discussion on the substantive issues of the day — especially with those with whom I disagree. Today’s meeting was productive and respectful, and I appreciate Alyssa and Fred’s willingness to come here with an open mind. I believe more conversations like this will go a long way in helping unite and heal our divided country,” Sen. Cruz said in a statement following the meeting.
“We all agree we have far too many of these mass shootings, and they need to stop. It is long past time for everyone to put away the partisan talking points so we can work together to solve this problem. We need to act,” he added.
Though Pelosi was seemingly displeased with Guttenberg’s outburst, the speaker offered some disobedience herself on Tuesday night. The leading Democrat refused to properly announce President Trump at the start of the evening, and ripped up her copy of Trump’s speech following the event.
As reported by The Daily Wire, decades of past SOTU addresses show that is protocol for the House Speaker to announce the president by noting that it is their “high privilege and distinct honor” to do so: “Members of Congress, I have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you the President of the United States.”
Instead, Pelosi merely announced Trump as follows: “Members of Congress, the President of the United States.”
Pelosi was unapologetic about ripping up Trump’s speech, too.
In a statement reported by The Washington Post on Tuesday, the speaker called the speech from the president a “manifesto of mistruths.”
“The manifesto of mistruths presented in page after page of the address tonight should be a call to action for everyone who expects truth from the President and policies worthy of his office and the American people,” a statement from Pelosi said.
“Nancy Pelosi says ripping up Donald Trump’s speech was ‘was the courteous thing to do considering the alternative,'” Jim Roberts reported.
Eight House Democrats (listed below) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) all skipped the president’s speech:
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA)
Rep. Al Green (D-TX)
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN)
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA)
Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL)
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
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