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Scanlon shrugs off broken ankle to rebuke Barr

Pennsylvania Democrat tripped on Capitol steps while filming Twitter video

Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., broke her ankle while filming a video for her Twitter followers Wednesday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., broke her ankle while filming a video for her Twitter followers Wednesday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Politics is a contact sport, which means players, er lawmakers, occasionally have to fight through injuries for the the greater good.

That was the case Thursday morning when Pennsylvania Democrat Mary Gay Scanlon hobbled into a House Judiciary hearing with a broken ankle she suffered while filming a video for her Twitter followers the night before.

In a scene that pretty much describes my nightmare, Scanlon tripped on the bottom step of the Capitol — while checking her email.

“Oh damn, I think I broke my ankle,” she said, before laughing hysterically.

Scanlon, a member of the “Rub Some Dirt On It Caucus,” got up and began filming the Twitter video in which she posed questions to Attorney General William Barr after he had just informed the House Judiciary panel he was skipping Thursday’s hearing.

In a gritty performance reminiscent of Curt Schilling’s infamous “bloody sock” game, Scanlon can be seen in the video asking Barr to release the Mueller report and dramatically ripping her question sheet.

But eventually she was ushered to the emergency room, no longer able to ignore the “blood dripping down her knee,” spokeswoman Gabby Richards said. And in a coincidence you’d expect only from an episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Scanlon could do nothing but laugh again when her attending physician revealed his name: Dr. Muller.

Cue the theme music.

 

Richards said the congresswoman’s injury has forced her to notice how fast-paced D.C. is. (Scanlon has clearly never served in the Senate.) But her staff have all chipped in to reconfigure her schedule and adjust to the slower pace.

Wishing you a speedy recovery, congresswoman!

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