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Minnesota lawmaker appears upside down in video call for committee hearing

Philippines

Minnesota lawmaker appears upside down in video call for committee hearing

By Andrea Aro

A lawmaker from Minnesota appeared upside down in a video call for a US House of Representatives committee hearing.

Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer appears upside down in a video call during a committee hearing. (Photo from Rep. Emmer's Twitter account / MANILA BULLETIN)

Tom Emmer, Minnesota's sixth district representative, appeared in the wrong way in video during the House Financial Services Committee hearing held on Feb. 9, just days after a lawyer in Texas used a cat filter while attending a court hearing via Zoom, The Guardian reported.

“I am not a cat,” Emmer posted on Twitter after the incident.

Chairwoman Maxine Waters, a California lawmaker, interrupted Emmer during his talk about job security to ask if he is alright.

"Will the gentleman suspend? I’m sorry… Mr. Emmer? Are you okay?” said Waters.

A representative who was also present in the hearing commented, "You're upside down, Tom."

"I don't know how to fix that," Emmer said.

Other legislators compared the situation with the cat filter which went viral while another attendee asked if Emmer's appearance might have been a statement: "Is this a metaphor?"

According to Emmer, he tried to turn his gadget off and on but he still appeared upside down. Fortunately, the situation was quickly fixed and Emmer appeared right side up.

“I appreciate your patience, Madam Chair. I don’t know what happened, it just came out this way. I turned it off and I turned it back on,” Emmer said.

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