Jeffries defends Democratic outbursts at State of the Union

"I thought the Democratic response was appropriately restrained and forceful at the same period of time. That was obvious to anybody who was watching. Jeffries had repeatedly urged members in the run-up to the speech to either skip it or attend in defiant silence, instructing them not to hold up signs or make any other unforced errors."

"With respect to Rep. Green's response, it was both appropriate and restrained. It was far less profane than my reaction to the very same racist video that Donald Trump felt compelled to produce, referring to a video he posted in which he said f*** Donald Trump."

"The heckling was not what people wanted, but nobody is pissed or even surprised. While the disruptions Tuesday night were nowhere near the scale of last year's widespread heckling, there were still several notable moments in which Democrats broke traditional decorum."

During Trump's speech, several House Democrats engaged in disruptions including heckling and sign-holding, but the incidents were significantly smaller in scale than previous years. Rep. Al Green was escorted out after holding a sign referencing a racist video Trump posted, while Reps. Tlaib and Omar heckled portions of the speech. Democratic leadership, including House Democratic leader Jeffries, had instructed members to either skip the speech or maintain defiant silence. Unlike previous years, there was minimal internal fallout among Democrats regarding these disruptions. Jeffries characterized the Democratic response as appropriately restrained and forceful, defending specific actions as justified reactions to Trump's rhetoric.

Read at Axios