A Pennsylvania state representative was booted from the House floor Tuesday for wearing an American flag-themed suit jacket days before the nation's 250th birthday — proving the ruling class would rather police patriotism than do its job.

Rep. Eric Davanzo (R-Westmoreland County) showed up to the statehouse in a red-and-white-striped jacket with a star-themed tie — an outfit his wife Rachelle bought him for the upcoming holiday weekend. Speaker Joanna McClinton (D) ruled the jacket violated House rules and declared it a "costume," ordering him to remove it or leave the chamber.

He left.

"Kicked off the floor for wearing a Patriotic jacket? That's right, it happened!" Davanzo wrote on Facebook.

The New York Post reported that House Whip Mike Schlossberg (D-Lehigh County) delivered the ultimatum, and a security guard repeated the order minutes later. When Davanzo pressed, the guard explained McClinton's reasoning: "She says it's a costume… He goes, yeah, it's something you wouldn't wear everyday."

Davanzo's response: "Listen, I would wear this back home and I'm going to wear it again."

The irony is thick. Across the country, Americans are gearing up for the 250th — parades, fireworks, festivals, even greased pig contests in Nevada and bed races in Wisconsin, as the Santa Rosa Press Democrat catalogued. Towns like Bristol, Rhode Island, have celebrated continuously since 1785. In Denmark, they've thrown a Fourth of July party in Jutland for over a century. The whole country is leaning into the milestone.

But in Harrisburg, the speaker's office couldn't stomach a striped jacket.

Even members of McClinton's own caucus broke ranks. "That is a very colorful jacket that the representative is wearing today. Very patriotic, I see, my friend," Rep. Jordan Harris (D-Philadelphia County) said on the floor.

"Everybody loved it," Davanzo told the Post. "They come up, people gave me hugs, shaking my hands, 'Hey, this is great.'"

McClinton's office held firm. "The House Democrats came to Harrisburg this week to do the serious work of passing a responsible budget to benefit all Pennsylvanians," her office told NBC News.

Serious work that, by the way, they didn't finish. Pennsylvania lawmakers failed to pass the state budget on time for the fifth consecutive year.

Davanzo didn't let that slide. "We have an affordability crisis; people can't afford stuff," he told WHP. "Instead of coming out here and doing the people's work, no, what are we focused on? We're focused on bulls–t issues like this jacket, right? No reason whatsoever."

"This wasn't a costume," Davanzo said. "This is something that I truly believe in. I'm a patriot."

A working-class representative from the former steel town of Monessen, Davanzo won his seat in 2020 by nearly 9,000 votes and crushed his last opponent by more than 14,000. He'll face union nurse Cherri Rogers again this November.

The ruling class can't pass a budget, can't make the state affordable, and can't tolerate a flag-colored jacket in the people's house. But they can enforce a dress code against patriotism. That tells you everything about who they're working for.

The question isn't why Davanzo wore the jacket. It's why the people in charge found it so offensive.