Social media platforms can be completely stupid on any given day (that goes double for BlueSky), and Monday was no exception, as the certification of Donald Trump’s election victory in November brought up-to-date insights from Democrats and their media allies.
While the president-elect certainly brings out the worst in his critics, some of them didn’t have Trump himself in mind when they began circulating on social media a video of Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) at the swearing-in ceremony – Starting Friday, she will be sworn in for her third term by Vice President Kamala Harris.
It wasn’t Fischer herself who was the object of her wrath. It was her husband Bruce who was with her at the ceremony.
SEE ALSO: Kamala Harris takes a nasty swipe at Bernie Sanders as she swears him in – he claps back
A video of that moment showed Harris extending her hand to shake Bruce Fischer’s hand and him not accepting it. Plus, he only looked her in the eye for a moment when he said “Thank you.”
Shortly after the clip made the rounds, “news” outlets like Newsweek, The Grio and HuffPost jumped in and pounced, with The Grio predictably suggest Racism and sexism were at play and Newsweek and HuffPost and explains, also without evidence, that Mr. Fischer “rejected“to shake hands with the twice-failed Democratic presidential candidate.
It sparked backlash from leftists and NeverTrump traitors like disgraced Lincoln Project senior adviser Stuart Stevens, who explained that “the correct term for it is ‘garbage.'” That is the essence of MAGA. Anger, resentment, bitterness is a foreign land that has never been visited.
But what did the critics leave out? The fact that Bruce Fischer was holding a Bible in one hand and a stick in the other. In fact, if you look closely, this is the very video circulating courtesy of a man with an incredibly ironic Twitter/X handle given the subject matter:
A Republican senator’s husband simply refused to shake Vice President Harris’s hand or make eye contact.
The level you can expect from MAGA. pic.twitter.com/hTarflIqlw
– No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) January 6, 2025
Pictures from their meeting make it even clearer:
Many people are commenting (positively and negatively) about Senator Deb Fischer’s husband not shaking Kamala’s hand. The clipped video does not show that the hand the vice president tried to shake was holding a stick. https://t.co/blA1RIVsmI pic.twitter.com/gYBT3FWdYC
– Mollie (@MZHemingway) January 6, 2025
Which hand should he employ? He holds a stick and a Bible. https://t.co/OB1cy3nzI5 pic.twitter.com/zoo9czFGuc
— Connor Licht (@ConnorLicht1) January 6, 2025
We eagerly await the apology of those who made a hasty judgment:
John Harwood attacks a disabled man for using a cane. Things aren’t much worse for the brain-impaired crowd today. https://t.co/CveyMdn48g
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) January 6, 2025
I’ve seen some people say that Fischer could have shaken her hand after he returned the Bible to the senator. However, the full video clip shows Mr. Fischer looking a little unsteady on his feet and looking at the ground, perhaps to make sure he didn’t fall:
GOP Sen. Deb Fischer’s husband, Bruce, refuses to shake Vice President Kamala Harris’ hand after her swearing-in. Truly classless. pic.twitter.com/a0ZQuDV0t0
— Republicans Against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) January 6, 2025
From my role as a carer, I have witnessed my father, over the years, repeatedly looking down when he used his cane and later his walker for fear that he would fall. My mother did the same.
Is it possible that Mr. Fischer’s actions were intentional? Perhaps. Some conservative Twitter/X accounts praised him for the same reasons Cohen criticized him and others criticized him. But I suspect that Mr. Fischer is probably much more afraid of losing his balance and falling than he is of being viewed as a “bad character” for not shaking Harris’ hand.
Just my .02.
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