Ah, the perils of being a glad-handing politician.
Fresh on the heels of passing the American Health Care Act, the Republican Party’s offering to repeal Obamacare, Speaker Paul Ryan took a photo Saturday with a man while appearing at the Kiwanis Pancake Festival in Racine, Wisconsin.
…but Ryan was oblivious to the man’s t-shirt.
Wearing a Milwaukee Brewers baseball hat, the young man was also rocking a t-shirt that read: “Repeal and go f**k yourself.’ – GOP.”
The photo became an internet sensation after being tweeted by a Twitter user who goes by @Minnysconsin. The reference to “pod” is for the political podcast “Pod Save America,” which sells the shirt.
Couple friends of the pod hanging out this morning. @jonfavs @jonlovett @TVietor08 pic.twitter.com/aT3nqiyOlu
— this.john (@this__john) May 6, 2017
Ryan was clearly set up, prompting a follow-up from Podcast co-host Jon Favreau — the former speechwriter for President Barack Obama challenged others to one-up the stunt:
I challenge any Friend of the Pod to do better than @minnysconsin just did. https://t.co/sP24qbI9sU
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) May 6, 2017
And while the photo opened Ryan up for serious ridiculing by his detractors, it didn’t compare to the lashing his press secretary, AshLee Strong, endured after tweeting out that the American Health Care Act was posted online and received a Congressional Budget Office score.
While we're setting the record straight: AHCA was posted online a month ago, went through 4 committees, & has been scored by CBO — twice.
— AshLee Strong (@AshLeeStrong) May 6, 2017
Strong was referring to the bill prior to being amended to pass the House, tweeting out links to scores dated March 13 and 23.
The modified bill that passed last week has yet to be scored… here’s a quick sampling of some of the abuse Strong endured:
@AshLeeStrong Trump administration said this week hadn’t been scored. Are you calling Trump a liar? https://t.co/6sOqpmp3cG pic.twitter.com/qbIm1Y8ZWA
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) May 6, 2017
@AshLeeStrong Okay. Now show us the one for the version of the bill that was voted on.
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) May 6, 2017
@AshLeeStrong This is like proving you paid your phone bill by showing your electric bill.
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) May 6, 2017
@JoeBerkowitz @AshLeeStrong I won’t pretend I’m not at least somewhat impressed by the inexhaustible capacity for dissimulation here.
— Joe Papp (@joepabike) May 6, 2017
@AshLeeStrong When I worked for the House GOP, we tried to keep our public statements within hailing distance of reality.
— Jack Pitney (@jpitney) May 6, 2017
As for Ryan, should his speaker gig bottom out, he can always make a living as a pretty darn good pancake flipper:
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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