Speaker of the U.S. House Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday joined a chorus of Republicans who either called it unwise or outright criticized fellow members for heckling President Biden during Tuesday\u2019s State of the Union speech.<\/p>\n
The heckling reached a crescendo during Biden\u2019s discussion of Social Security and Medicare, with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) shouting<\/a> \u201cliar\u201d at the president multiple times. Biden, who had claimed some Republicans wanted to \u201csunset\u201d Social Security and Medicare, responded by joking he had instantly converted Republicans to his side.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to be smart,\u201d McCarthy told Fox News<\/a>. \u201cDon\u2019t take the bait.\u201d<\/p>\n Other Republicans were more direct about the heckling.<\/p>\n \u201cYou should never do that sort of stuff,\u201d said Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif)<\/a>. \u201cWhen he did come out and say the bit about we\u2019re trying to cut Social Security, that drew a round of boos, and I thought that was pretty fair. But the catcalling I didn\u2019t really like. I understand the frustration, but it really isn\u2019t how \u2013 in order to conduct the business of the institution \u2013 how we should do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Former Trump advisor John Bolton also was critical, saying some members of Congress \u201care performance artists, and they can\u2019t help it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMarjorie Taylor Greene is now the face of the Republican Party, and it\u2019s a mistake,\u201d Bolton told NBC.<\/a><\/p>\n U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said, \u201cThis is not the House of Parliament. I wish there were more decorum, but it seems like we just keep going further downhill every State of the Union.\u201d<\/p>\n U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who often votes with Republicans on hot-button cultural issues, also was critical.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s just not acceptable in the type of country we are and the leader of the free world,\u201d Manchin said<\/a>. \u201cMight be accepted in a Third World country. But not here.\u201d<\/p>\n GOP pollster Frank Luntz said<\/a> the heckling made the State of the Union look like a \u201chigh school assembly.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is wrong for elected officials to act that way,\u201d Luntz said, adding that Republicans already had a time of response with Sarah Huckabee Sanders. \u201c… I am an advocate for civility. I am an advocate for respect. I am an advocate for us not destroying ourselves and tearing each other apart. \u2026 [And] it happens on both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n