GOP Lawmaker Headbutts Camera After Being Asked About Donald Trump Impeachment
While most lawmakers ignore or avoid questions that they’d rather not answer, Representative Don Young decided to take a different approach. On Thursday, when a group of activists from MoveOn.org pushed the Alaska Republican to talk about Donald Trump’s impeachment, he headbutted the camera and walked away.
According to Mediaite, Young can be seen in a video made by the group walking away after being asked about foreign interference in United States elections. The lawmaker’s aide tries to put off the questioner as Young shakes his head in irritation.
“Is it okay for foreign governments to interfere in our election?” a person asks in the video. “Is that an acceptable thing to have happen? Congressman, it’s a simple yes or no question.”
Young continued to ignore the question, which the person asked repeatedly.
“Do you think it’s OK for the president to pressure foreign governments to interfere in our elections?” the person asked again.
The GOP lawmaker presses the button for the elevator and proceeded to wait for it to arrive as the questioner continued to push. Finally, Young can be seen turning around and walking slowly towards the camera before headbutting it and turning back around.
“There ya go,” Young says.
Watch Republican Congressman @repdonyoung (R-AK) headbutt the camera when we asked him if it’s okay to ask foreign governments to interfere in our elections.
And no, he never answered the question. pic.twitter.com/FWgmkdzycG
— MoveOn (@MoveOn) October 31, 2019
After smashing his head into the camera, Young continues to press the elevator button and is visibly irritated that the questioner is still present. The elevator arrives and Young leaves.
The person attempting to question the lawmaker was referring to the reports that Trump engaged in a phone call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which he is alleged to have pressured the Eastern European leader to investigate his potential political rival in the 2020 election.
The call itself and the conversations surrounding it are the focus of the House’s impeachment inquiry, which has heated up in recent days. On Thursday, the House held a vote to formalize the process, which passed along party lines. Trump has called the vote part of a larger “witch hunt” against him.
Young spoke out against the impeachment inquiry, according to Alaska Public Media. He called the process a “sham” and claimed that it was the Democrats’ attempt to get rid of Trump.
“This has been a political sham from the very beginning. When you think about it, three years, all they’ve ever tried to do is get rid of Trump,” he said.
When pressed by the interviewer over impeachment, Young said that he believes the president was conducting business for the country during the call. But, like his encounter with the MoveOn activists, Young had no patience for the conversation. Three minutes into the interview, Young told the reporter that he wasn’t interested in talking about it any longer and told the reporter to “get out.”
