Vice President Kamala Harris presides over a joint session of Congress to certify the results of the 2024 Presidential election, inside the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2025, in Washington, D.C. | Source: ALLISON ROBBERT / Getty
In an apparent unabashed display of misogyny and racist dog-whistling, the husband of a newly sworn-in Republican U.S. Senator was shown on video refusing to shake the hand of Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday at the U.S. Capitol.
In fact, Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer’s husband couldn’t even bring himself to look Harris in the eyes as she extended her hand to him while performing the “sacred obligation” of presiding over a joint session of Congress in an act that would also certify her own election loss to Donald Trump.
In a 48-second clip going viral on social media, Harris is shown greeting the couple, with Fischer’s husband holding a Bible upon which his wife was sworn in by the vice president.
As Harris appears to make small pleasantries with the couple, she was shown speaking directly to the husband, whose firmly pointed downward face was emphasized by arched eyebrows that suggested anger. After Harris congratulated the newly sworn-in official with a handshake and a smile, she went to shake the husband’s hand – a gesture that was met with clear scorn that the vice president played off masterfully with a knowing chuckle.
Watch the brief exchange below.
Social media influencer Brian Allen criticized the “absolutely pathetic display of fragility and hate.”
“They have no home training,” writer Elie Mystal commented in response to podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen calling it “The level of class you can expect from MAGA.”
(L-R) U.S. Senator Deb Fischer, Republican from Nebraska, speaks as Vice President Kamala Harris and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson look on during a joint session of Congress to certify the results of the 2024 Presidential election, inside the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2025, in Washington, D.C. | Source: SAUL LOEB / Getty
Meet Sen. Deb Fischer
For those who are unfamiliar with Fischer and her policies, perhaps all one needs to know is that she rejoiced when Trump’s hand-picked U.S. Supreme Court ruled Mr. MAGA could remain on the ballot.
“Americans can celebrate,” Fischer said in a statement at the time and wrote in a separate op-ed nearly a year ago that the Biden administration was guilty of related political “abuses.”
In return for her loyalty, Trump bestowed her with a MAGA-coveted endorsement for reelection, the soiled fruits of which she reaped on Monday when she was sworn in.
The viral moment on Capitol Hill came under a wide specter of irony. After all, Democrats have been making a big deal out of following the democratic process and committing to a peaceful transfer of power to a group of individuals – including and especially President-elect Donald Trump – who face credible accusations of inciting the deadliest political violence in more than 100 years; on the fourth anniversary of the Capitol Riots of Jan. 6, 2021, no less.
That was the decided context in which the MAGA husband of Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer refused to shake the hand of the second-highest-ranking elected official in the United States who swore in his wife to the U.S. Senate.
This is America.
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