GOP Rep Head-Butts Camera of Progressive Activist
Representative Don Young (R., Alaska) head-butted the camera of a member of the progressive activist group MoveOn on Thursday, after the activist trailed Young down a hallway.
MoveOn posted footage of the incident on its Twitter feed.
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
Two activists followed Young, one with a camera, repeatedly asking him whether it was legal for foreign governments to interfere in U.S. elections. An aid for Young tried to respond to one of the activists.
Young then threw up his hands in exasperation, moved over to the camera and head-butted it.
“There you go,” he said, and refused to answer the question.
At 86, Young is one of the oldest members of Congress and is the longest-serving congressman on Capitol Hill.
In April, Young shoved a Politico reporter who was interviewing another lawmaker, telling her to move out of his way. He later called the reporter to apologize.
Young also apologized for a 2017 incident in which he swore at Representative Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.) and told her she didn’t “know a damn thing what she’s talking about.”
On Thursday Young, along with other House Republicans, voted against the Democrats’ resolution formalizing an impeachment inquiry into President Trump. Democrats are aiming to discern whether Trump withheld military aid from Ukraine to pressure the country to look into corruption allegations against Joe Biden and his son.
“This has been a political sham from the very beginning,” Young told Alaska Public Media after the vote. “When you think about it, three years, all they’ve ever tried to do is get rid of Trump.”
Three minutes into his interview with APM reporter Liz Ruskin, he told her to leave.
“That’s enough,” he said to Ruskin. “Get out of here.”
