As President Trump entered the chamber to address a joint session of Congress Tuesday, New Mexico U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury stood behind him with a sign that read, “This is not normal.” The move, which was one of several Democratic protests of the speech, garnered national attention.
Google searches for “Melanie Stansbury” hit an all-time high as cameras caught the moment of the president passing by the Congresswoman standing straight-faced with her small, handwritten sign.
Numerous national and even international news outlets covered Stansbury’s protest and the kerfuffle that followed, when Texas Republican Rep. Lance Gooden snatched the sign from her hands.
Ahead of the joint session, Stansbury, who represents New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District, including much of the Albuquerque area, explained the meaning behind her sign in a video posted to social media.
“We know that things are not normal,” she said. “But we are here to bear witness, to stand up for our communities, and to ensure the voices of our communities are heard in the harm that this administration is doing with its reckless dismantling of agencies, the firing of federal workers, and the proposed budget framework that Congress has put forward through the GOP majority to slash funding for Medicaid and Medicare.”
In the video, she was joined by her guest for the address, Dr. Linda Son-Stone, CEO of First Nations Community HealthSource, the state’s Urban Indian Health Center based in Albuquerque. Son-Stone said more than 70% of its funding comes from federal sources, so any cuts could be “extremely detrimental.”
Stansbury’s sign and guest were not the only ways she communicated her message of resistance to the president’s agenda. She was also one of several Democratic members who walked out during the speech.
That night, in a video on social media, Stansbury added her interaction with Rep. Gooden to her list of federal goings on that she characterized as “complete madness,” alongside layoffs and funding freezes.
“Having members of Congress tear signs out of other members of Congress’s hands and rip them up on the floor and throw them over the head of the president? That is not normal,” she said.
In a statement, Chair of the New Mexico Republican Party Amy Barela called Stansbury’s sign “disrespectful,” adding, “What’s truly 'not normal' is the relentless obstruction from Democrats who refuse to embrace prosperity and opportunity for our state.”
