The husband of a Republican U.S. senator did not shake the hand of Vice President Kamala Harris during a swearing-in ceremony, prompting liberal claims of a snub and conservative charges of a misleading edit.
The video of Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska being sworn in, which happened Friday, went viral Monday after being posted by liberal commentator Brian Tyler Cohen and shared by numerous other left-leaning accounts.
In the clip, Mrs. Fischer takes the oath, Ms. Harris shakes the Nebraskan’s hand and says “Congratulations. Thank you for your work.”
Ms. Harris then turns to husband Bruce Fischer and says “may I give congratulations to you?” and holds out her hand.
Mr. Fischer says “thank you” but does not grasp her outstretched hand.
Ms. Harris acts surprised and raises her eyebrows but says nothing.
Liberal commentators didn’t say nothing.
“The level of class you can expect from MAGA,” Mr. Cohen wrote in his X post that included the video
Several conservative commentators replied with still photos taken from a different angle, which show that Mr. Fischer’s right hand was leaning on a cane.
Mollie Hemingway of The Federalist noted that the “clipped video does not show that the hand the VP tried to shake was holding on to a cane.”
“Also, if I may, sometimes days like this are a bit tiring and burdensome for all involved. If someone swearing in 100 people and greeting their families didn’t notice the cane, maybe cut them some slack. And if the husband seemed gruff, likewise, maybe cut him some slack,” she said.
Megan Basham of the Daily Wire replied to Mr. Cohen by asking, “what sort of person, after being informed that this man is disabled and uses a cane, chooses to leave this up?”
Mrs. Fischer’s social-media accounts had said nothing by Monday evening.
As president of the Senate, the vice president customarily swears in the new senators at the start of each Congress. Mrs. Fischer won her third term in November.
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