A video of MAGA Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) dismissing the use of a walking cane by her Democratic colleague Rep. Al Green (D-TX) is circulating as Harshbarger considers running for governor of the Volunteer State.
Note: Since undergoing emergency abdominal surgery in February 2024, Green has been using a cane. During President Trump’s joint session of Congress in March, Green stood up and waved his cane at Trump while shouting, “You have no mandate to cut Medicaid.” The Congressman was later censured for the interruption.
As seen in the video below, Harshbarger, 65, recalled the dramatic moment and said of her 77-year-old colleague: “Al Green was over here with his cane, and I’m like, gosh dang it boy, put that… he does not need that cane. That cane is a prop. I swear it’s not real.”
She added, “And I’m wondering, one of my colleagues said ‘screw the gold part of this and see if there’s a gun in there.’”
At the end of an interview, GOP Rep. Diana Harshbarger said Rep. Al Green, who shook his cane at Trump during the State of the Union, is faking it and that it may hold a gun inside.
“Boy, put that cane… He does not need that cane. That cane is a prop. I swear it’s not real.” pic.twitter.com/P4U8xvXsIJ
— Hemant Mehta (@hemantmehta) April 21, 2025
A large number of comments slammed Harshbarger (who is white) for referring to a 77-year-old Black man as “boy.” An account with the username “Go Navy” who self-identifies as an anti-Trump, anti-Fascist veteran, wrote: “Excuse me? Boy?”
Another commenter, sensitive to the long history of “boy” being used as a smear along racial lines, wrote: “Did she say, BOY? Referring to Congressman Al Green? Are you kidding me? Ugh.”
Did she say, BOY? Referring to Congressman Al Green?
Are you kidding me?
Ugh.
And it’s a joke?— Francie Berens (@francie_berens) April 21, 2025
The Congresswoman, who used the term colloquially and presumably without trying to ignite a firestorm with a racial smear, did have defenders willing to overlook what others found offensive. “This was clearly a joke,” wrote one commenter. “Collegiality and a sense of humor is something we need more of.”
Another commenter — focusing on Harshbarger’s cane claim rather than her use of “boy” — wrote sarcastically of the absurdity of Harshbarger’s insinuation that Green’s cane was unnecessary: “Yeah what other 77-year-old uses a cane?”
The SOTU moment wasn’t Green’s first dramatic appearance in Congress: after that emergency abdominal surgery, using a wheelchair and in a hospital gown, Green entered the chamber at the last moment to cast his vote against impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Note: Fellow MAGA Tennessean lawmakers Rep. Tim Burchett and Senator Marsha Blackburn have also voiced interest in running for governor in 2026. Republican Governor Bill Lee is term limited.