Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona explains why she walked out of Trump’s speech

PHOENIX – Democratic U.S. Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona walked out of President Donald Trump’s speech to Congress on Tuesday night, saying she was “absolutely devastated” by his rhetoric.

“I couldn’t hear any more of it,” the former Phoenix City Council member said in a video recorded after she left the House floor.

Ansari, the House Democratic freshman class president, brought DACA recipient Yadira Garcia, a teacher from her district whose parents brought her to the U.S. a child without documentation, as her guest to the speech.

What did Rep. Yassamin Ansari say after walking out of Trump speech?

“I’m absolutely devastated by the bulls– I just heard, everything from incessant dehumanizing of immigrants, to trans people to the LGBTQ+ community to outright lies about who is going to benefit from the tax cuts to come, and the fact that Republicans are cutting Medicaid for so many of my constituents,” Ansari said in her video.

During his speech, Trump said he wants to ban gender-affirming surgery for minors.

“I want Congress to pass a bill permanently banning and criminalizing sex changes on children and forever ending the lie that any child is trapped in the wrong body,” he said.

In her video, Ansari noted that she was wearing a “Protect Trans Kids” pin on her lapel.

“Very unfortunate to see the president of the United States talk about and scapegoat so many of my constituents in Arizona’s third district,” she said.

Ansari wasn’t the only Democrat to leave Trump’s speech early. Texas Rep. Al Green was escorted out of the House chamber after shouting objections while the president was speaking and refusing to sit back down.

Several other Democrats chose not to attend, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York) and Sens. Martin Heinrich (New Mexico) and Patty Murray (Washington).

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