Behold This GOP Senator's Magical Harry Potter-Esque Glasses
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) sent Twitter users into a mini-meltdown on Tuesday when he was caught on camera removing a pair of glasses that he wasn’t actually wearing.
The longest-serving Senate Republican, who is retiring at the end of this year, pulled the move during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.
It provided some comic relief during an at-times tense hearing, which at one point saw Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) accuse Nielsen of being “complicit” in President Donald Trump’s bigotry.
The clip, above, immediately went viral.
Hatch’s office saw the funny side of the gaffe and joked via Twitter that the 83-year-old senator was in fact donning a pair of “invisible glasses” from hipster-favorite Warby Parker.
“They’re new, you’ve probably never heard of them,” added Hatch’s office, alongside a fake listing for the spectacles:
Oh you mean his invisible glasses from Warby Parker? They're new, you've probably never heard of them. pic.twitter.com/pygTRwbJl7
— Senator Hatch Office (@senorrinhatch) January 16, 2018
The lighthearted moment became a hot topic on Tuesday’s late-night television, with “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” producing this GIF:
.@OrrinHatch we got you, dude pic.twitter.com/ymMhRuiiOS
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) January 16, 2018
“The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert, meanwhile, praised Hatch’s performance skills:
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Orrin Hatch has been learning his object work from @StephenAtHome #LSSC pic.twitter.com/FaTH6gWC7g
— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) January 17, 2018
Bespectacled Twitter users simply sympathized with Hatch’s predicament:
I do this all the time when I switch from glasses to contacts. Or I'll try and adjust them using the bridge over my nose.
— 𝕆𝕄𝔾ℤ𝕆𝕄𝔹𝕀𝔼𝕊 (@OMGZOMBIES) January 16, 2018
I *cannot* make fun of this because I do it ALL THE TIME
— Aimee Giese (@Greeblehaus) January 17, 2018
Everyone who thinks this is strange has never worn glasses.
— Morgan Housel (@morganhousel) January 16, 2018
I think this tweet is really separating the glasses wearers from the non glasses wearers today.
— Joey McAllister (@JoeyMcAllister) January 17, 2018
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
