Photos show Republican senators passing the time at Trump's lengthy impeachment trial by playing with fidget spinners

Reuters

• Republican senators whipped out an arsenal of fidget spinners Thursday during President Donald Trump's impeachment trial.

• Sens. Richard Burr, Mike Rounds, Tom Cotton, and Pat Toomey were all seen toying with the device, which was originally designed for restless children.

• It's a rotating device set on ball bearings that spins for a long period of time once flicked. They were all the rage in 2017.

• The source of the toys, according to NBC News, was Burr, who reportedly handed them to colleagues before the second day of Democrats' opening statement at Trump's impeachment trial.

• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump's impeachment trial took a trip down memory lane to 2017 on Thursday as multiple restless Republican senators were spotted playing with fidget spinners.

Soon after Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler, who's serving as one of the House impeachment managers, began his opening statements, Sen. Richard Burr started flicking a blue fidget spinner.

A fidget spinner is a rotating device set on ball bearings that spins for a long period of time once flicked. It was designed for restless kids, and even adults.

Shutterstock

The New York Times reporter Catie Edmonson tweeted a rendering of Burr by a Times sketch artist on Thursday. You can see the fidget spinner on his desk.

Sen. Mike Rounds also got in on the action. This image was shared to Twitter by the USA Today politics reporter Nicholas Wu on Thursday:

"They do last for quite a while," Rounds said of the toy, according to Wu. "Not that it might outlast some of the dissertation we have in there, but it might make the time go a little quicker."

Sens. Tom Cotton and Pat Toomey were seen with fidget spinners on their desks, too. Cotton's was purple, and Toomey's was white.

Burr had distributed all these spinners on Thursday morning, NBC News reported.

Associated Press

Other Republican senators chose to pass the time with other distractions.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, was spotted reading a book, according to NPR, while NBC News reported that Sen. Rand Paul "appeared to be drawing or tracing a sketch of the US Capitol."

Trump and many of his allies have dismissed the entire impeachment trial as a sham.

• Read more:

• What to expect on day 3 of opening arguments in Trump's impeachment trial

• Trump's lawyers are fighting impeachment like a Fox News spectacle to rile up the president's base and warn senators they'll lose their seats if they defect

• Democrats have a new tactic to blow up Trump's impeachment defense — using the president's own words against himself

• 'If the truth doesn't matter, we're lost': On day 2 of opening arguments, House prosecutors hammered Trump for abusing his power and laid the groundwork to remove him from office

Read the original article on Business Insider