Union Protester Gives John Kasich His ‘You Lie!’ Moment (VIDEO)

Gov. John Kasich (R-OH)
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Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) gave his first State Of The State address Tuesday afternoon before a joint session of the Ohio legislature. And thanks to one union activist protesting Kasich’s plan to strip state workers of their collective bargaining rights, it was a speech to remember.

Teresa Law, a unionized home health care provider who lost her collective bargaining rights thanks to a Kasich executive order, was in the crowd during the speech and found herself giving the governor her best Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) impression.

As Kasich began to speak about his controversial budget plan — which is virtually guaranteed to pass in the Republican-controlled legislature — he addressed the thousands of protesters who’ve been gathering inside and out the state Capitol in Columbus. When he mentioned collective bargaining the boos started.

Kasich, from the transcript of the speech:

And by the way, I appreciate the passion of people that don’t agree with us, you know? I grew up in the ’70s. I learned what protests were in the ’70s. I understand it. And people who are strongly — people who feel strongly, I respect them.

Law would have none of it.

“But you don’t respect us!” she yelled, clearly audible to the television viewing audience.

Kasich pressed on, and didn’t directly acknowledge the source of the outburst.

“But they need to also respect those that don’t always agree with them, okay?” he said, speaking unscripted from notes in his trademark style.

Law told TPM that the moment wasn’t planned.

“I went just to be there to be able to watch and just to be there,” she said in a telephone interview. “I thought, ‘you aren’t’ listening to us, you haven’t sat down and spoken to any of us.'”

“Do I respect him?” she said when asked what she thought of Kasich’s response. “At this point, no, I don’t.”

Like Wilson, who famously interrupted President Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress after a months of protests against the health care reform bill, Law was allowed to remain in the chamber even after shouting down Kasich. Other union activists in the audience were led out, a union spokesperson told TPM, but Law stayed and listened through the end.

“I felt that we got jargon thrown at us rather than real plan,” she said. “And that was clear.”

Watch Kasich’s Joe Wilson moment below. The outburst begins at around the 41.28 mark:

This post has been updated.

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