GOP Senator Throws 'Talking Stick' In Shutdown Meeting, Breaks Glass Elephant
A Republican senator accidentally broke a glass elephant with a toss of a “talking stick” during government shutdown negotiations, and people on Twitter can’t get enough of the symbolism.
Sen. Susan Collins (R- Maine) invited around 20 senators from both parties into her Capitol Hill office over the weekend in a bid to end the government shutdown, according to multiple reports.
Collins reportedly asked attendees to speak only when they were in possession of a “talking stick.” But when Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) interrupted Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Alexander threw the stick to him across the room. It inadvertently crashed into Collins’ glass elephant ornament, and chipped it.
Most senators in attendance saw the funny side, according to CNN. Collins ended up swapping the stick with a rubber ball to prevent further damage.
People online couldn’t resist poking fun at the incident — with some citing the breaking of the elephant (the GOP’s symbol is an elephant) as “nicely symbolic.”
Here’s a sampling of other responses:
This will be the SNL skit
— Dan Hazelwood (@HazelwoodDan) January 22, 2018
Feel really bad for the writers of Veep to top this pic.twitter.com/tdSZh6Tark
— Jake (@jake__ruben) January 22, 2018
I believe I have found proof of Collins’ ill-fated glass elephant, may it rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/snbr4Fk9Bt
— Rafi Schwartz (@TheJewishDream) January 22, 2018
Our congressional leaders are acting like school children. https://t.co/MsiSE7K7w5
— SKIRT (@talktoskirt) January 22, 2018
100% thought that "glass elephant" is some sort of outlandish beltway euphemism. https://t.co/aiWq8Ax74x
— Rob Scharf (@robscharf) January 22, 2018
This is not the onion.
1) Senators use "talking sticks"
2) One Senator got so angry they threw the talking stick
3) The throw missed its target and broke Senator Collins' glass elephant.
I repeat, this is not the onion. https://t.co/kv3pYE2Jtw— Irvin McCullough (@mcculloughirvin) January 22, 2018
If you're going to act like children, Susan Collins is going to treat you like children. https://t.co/HlwYx24XtT
— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) January 22, 2018
Wow. A talking stick is almost as unusual as a talking horse. https://t.co/VHW1p0ialx
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) January 22, 2018
Someone make a "Susan Colllins' glass elephant" twitter feed ASAP https://t.co/WxbDlnpnsg
— Jared Bennett (@jaredtbennett) January 22, 2018
A glass elephant? Nicely symbolic. I wonder if in McConnell's office they use the conch for speaking rights rather than a talking stick. Seems more manly.
— Tom Simon (@tomsimon12345) January 22, 2018
Not a single child in my daughter's Brownie troop has ever gotten out of line to the point of throwing the damn talking stick! 😐 https://t.co/KUnT3sKcEc
— Whitley Trillbert (@HalicueH) January 23, 2018
Sounds like "Lord of the Flies" down there. https://t.co/cLw4xVh5kO
— Gersh Kuntzman (@GershKuntzman) January 22, 2018
NO WONDER WHY GLASS ELEPHANTS ARE GOING EXTINCT https://t.co/dccMsCmfJX
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) January 22, 2018
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
