Van Orden Yells ‘Lies’ at Biden During State of the Union
It's another outburst by controversial GOP congressman from western Wisconsin.
U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden
U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Prairie du Chein) shouted “lies” at President Joe Biden during the State of the Union speech Thursday night.
The outburst came during a portion of the speech in which Biden was criticizing former President Donald Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first-term Republican has frequently drawn attention for his behavior before and during his time in Congress. Last year, he was criticized for yelling at teenage Senate pages in the Capitol rotunda and prior to his election he berated a teenage employee of a Prairie du Chien library over an LGBTQ book display.
U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Town of Vermont) said in a statement after Van Orden’s State of the Union outburst that he doesn’t believe Van Orden has the right temperament to represent Wisconsin.
Van Orden was elected in 2022 by a slim margin, flipping a seat that was long held by Democrat Ron Kind. State Sen. Katrina Shankland and local business owner Rebecca Cooke are running in the Democratic primary for the seat.
Van Orden yells ‘lies’ at Biden during State of the Union was originally published by Wisconsin Examiner.
“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.” Plato
Outstanding response blurondo.
I can add nothing more.
Van Orden’s outburst will almost certainly be a one-day story. But it’s worth putting it into a context of what we are becoming accustomed to, and Wisconsin’s place in that world.
Especially for younger people, who may – with good reason – view many of their elected officials with suspicion or contempt, some history is useful. There are those of us old enough to remember when Wisconsin produced, and sent to both Madison and Washington, some of the most effective elective officials – Democrats and Republicans – in America. LaFollette, Nelson, Wiley, Reuss, Thompson, Proxmire, and others. National leaders in worker’s rights and protecting the environment.
Today, that delegation, along with Wisconsin’s state legislature, also a former national model, is an embarrassment, as Van Orden’s Marjorie Taylor Green-like performance demonstrated. But Van Orden is hardly alone. With the exception of Gallagher, the entire Republican group, including the mentally defective businessman Ron Johnson in the Senate, represent the worst of Trumpism. And Van Orden may not even be the worst, given the presence of the moronic Grothman who, in addition to his stupidity, appears incapable of finding a decent shirt or haircut.
In a state whose politics are increasingly dominated by a handful of plutocrats, this group is more than comfortable with the erosion of democracy and, in Johnson’s case, with actively working to end it on January 6, 2021. No doubt, given the opportunity, Congressman Van Orden, along with the rest will be on board for all of the lies to come. And, if need be, for claiming a win in an election that they have lost. Or supporting another insurrection, which, this time, might succeed in ending democracy in our country.
was he blotto?
i think he goes to the same high school that margaret taylor green attends.
What a poor excuse for a Congressman.From his alcohol fueled rants at teenage Capitol pages, to intimidations of librarians and now this.. He’s an embarrassment to his district and to Wisconsin.
Stay classy, Derrick.
Van Orden demonstrates that he has no class, no integrity, and no common sense. The other RRRs (radical reactionary republicans) in the Wisconsin delegation (maybe with the exception of Gallagher) have little class or integrity as well. It is so evident that RRRs throughout country are lock step in support of actual authoritarian (Putin) and following a traitorous fascist in 45.
I ordered two gifts to be shipped to his office in DC right after the SOTU address. The first was a pocket copy of the Constitution. The gift message for this related to words versus actions and the Republican party. The second was a book on how not to be an a**hole. The gift message here was just that he is an embarrassment to Wisconsin and the United States of America. I know it will have zero impact on him as a person, but if I got under his skin even just a little it was worth every penny.