President Obama was addressing same-sex marriage in a speech in the East Room of the White House when he was interrupted by a pro-immigration campaigner, identified as a transgender woman.
Immediately Obama showed he was annoyed and tried to cut the campaigner off, "Hold on a sec. Ok. You know what? No."
Watch the video below as he deals with the interruption with some bouts of well-tempered humor.
"Hey, listen, you're in my house," he added, to which the audience went wild and started chanting, "Obama! Obama!"
Finally losing patience, Obama asked that the protestor be escorted out. He even let her know, "shame on you, you shouldn't be doing this."
"As a general rule, I am just fine with a few hecklers but not when I am up in the house," he said afterwards. "If you are eating the hors d'oeuvres, know what I'm sayin'? And drinking the booze." The crowd loved his remark and laughed and cheered him on.
Soon after the incident an immigration group claimed the protestor was an undocumented immigrant named Jennicet Gutiérrez, who is transgender. According to a press release, Gutiérrez was a founding member of FAMILIA TQLM, established to advocate for LGBTQ immigrants who the group says are often excluded in the immigration debate.
“There is no pride in how L.G.B.T.Q. and transgender immigrants are treated in this country,” Ms. Gutiérrez said in a statement. “If the president wants to celebrate with us, he should release the L.G.B.T.Q. immigrants locked up in detention centers immediately.”
Obama has been heckled by immigrants several times before but has seemed more willing to engage with them than this time. It is much more rare to be heckled in the white house where guests are invited and pre-screened.