A proposal from Florida Republican Matt Gaetz that every meeting of the House Judiciary Committee begin with a recital of the Pledge of Allegiance was given short shrift by his Democratic colleague in a video that has been viewed nearly a million times.
Gaetz, who has served as the U.S. representative for Florida’s 1st congressional district since 2017, shared a clip of the exchange on his Twitter account. In it, the Trump-supporting GOP congressman asked that the Pledge of Allegiance be recited at the start of each committee session.
Gaetz suggested it would be a “great, unifying patriotic moment.” But the committee chair, New York Democrat Jerry Nadler, explained that the pledge is already taken at the start of the day in the House and that a second pledge before the committee would be “unnecessary.”
The Daily Caller obtained a video file from the hearing which included audio of a group of Democrats joking about Republicans’ request to have the pledge of allegiance recited before committee hearings.
In the video, you can hear Tennessee Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen and an unidentified House Democrat appearing to joke about the request.
They were reminded by a staffer that their microphones were hot, according to the audio.
Click the video below to hear what they said!
Gaetz and Nadler have butted heads on the committee numerous times, from the Mueller investigation to matters of President Trump’s impeachment.
Some took Gaetz’s request as “virtue signaling,” while others thought Nadler’s response made the pledge seem like an obligation.
