Heckling of Biden Reflects a New, Coarser Normal for House G.O.P.
Such a scene would not have flown in the British Parliament, where rowdy debate is a tradition and members often jeer loudly but are barred from using expletives or hurling accusations of misconduct, including lying.
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“If that had been in the British House of Commons, it would have stopped at the word ‘liar,’” said Sean Haughey, a lecturer in political science at the University of Liverpool. “The speaker would have immediately intervened, giving the person the opportunity to withdraw their remark, and if they refused, escorted them out.”
The coarsening in conduct in Congress, he added, could have real consequences at a time when political extremism is on the rise in the United States.
“In old established democracies, when you see an increase in this type of behavior, it’s usually symptomatic of a breakdown in democratic norms,” Mr. Haughey said.
Mr. Biden took the carnival-like atmosphere in stride, at one point almost grinning at the reaction he elicited and suggesting that Republicans had taken his bait on safeguarding entitlement programs. “As we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books now!” the president said.
Such outbursts have drawn official rebukes in the past, such as in 2009, when Representative Joe Wilson, Republican of South Carolina, yelled “you lie” to President Barack Obama during an address on health care. He apologized profusely later that night, and the House voted within days to condemn his commentary as a “breach of decorum” that “degraded the proceedings of the joint session, to the discredit of the House.”
But in the intervening years, other displays of protest have been allowed to slide by. Last year, Representative Lauren Boebert, Republican of Colorado, faced no consequences when she yelled “you put them there — 13 of them” when Mr. Biden mentioned the flag-draped coffins of American service members. The president had been discussing measures to help veterans suffering from cancer, but Ms. Boebert was referring to the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, when an attack on the Kabul airport left 13 U.S. service members dead.
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