The always outspoken Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) walked out midway through President Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday, the Dallas Morning News reported.
"Tonight I left early after hearing how the President is further abusing his Constitutional powers," Stockman told the Dallas Morning News in a statement. "I could not bear to watch as he continued to cross the clearly-defined boundaries of the Constitutional separation of powers." Needless to say, I am deeply disappointed in the tone and content of tonight’s address."
Stockman has made no secret of his problems with the president, but he does seem to enjoy the media spectacle of the State of the Union. Last year, he invited rocker and Obama critic Ted Nugent to the speech; this year, he invited Chad Henderson, a student who embarrassed the media by telling reporters he had enrolled in Obamacare when he, in fact, had not.
Stockman only recently reappeared in Washington after having missed votes since Jan. 9, which he attributed to work travel and campaigning. Stockman is running in a Senate primary against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).
Stockman went on in his statement to criticize Obama for his policies, including executive actions that the congressman views as "a wholesale violation of his oath of office and a disqualifying offense."
"After five years in office Obama refuses to admit his policies have failed," he said. "He instead demands we double down on the bitter class warfare that has left Americans jobless and hopeless. Obama’s plan for higher taxes and more spending is a blueprint for perpetual poverty. The last thing America needs is more of the Democrats’ class warfare that has left our economy a barren landscape."