When a protester stood up in the back of the room at a Congressional hearing with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Missouri Congressman Billy Long didn’t miss a beat.
Or a breath for that matter.
Political activist Laura Loomer interrupted the hearing, pleading for President Trump to intervene in a widely speculated case of censorship on the social media platform.
“Jack Dorsey is trying to influence the election, to sway the election to the Democrats and steal the election,” she shouted through calls to show order. “That is why he’s censoring and shadow banning conservatives.”
Long immediately drowned out the rest of the protester’s statement by delivering a tremendous auctioneer’s call. It is a field he had previously worked in for three decades.
“One and a quarter, one and a half…Two! Two and a quarter, yup, two and a half, seventy-five — three,” came the rapid-fire response. “We’re selling the cell phone there!”
Loomer had been recording a video of herself protesting using a cell phone and a selfie stick.
The pinnacle of the video can be seen at the end when Long, after auctioneering for a full minute, announced, “I yield back,” eliciting laughter throughout the chambers.
Watch the exchange below …
As a protester interrupts hearing with @Twitter CEO @Jack Dorsey, Rep. Billy Long (@USRepLong @auctnr1), a former auctioneer, takes action.
Watch full hearing with here: https://t.co/Gh099bDc9w pic.twitter.com/e4bRzvtBe1
— CSPAN (@cspan) September 5, 2018
It should be noted that while congratulations are in order for the comedic moment, the subject being brought up by Loomer is anything but funny.
Social media companies across the board are being hauled into Congress to explain their methods after numerous and perpetual complaints from conservative media that they are being censored.
One report indicates that conservative blogs and websites have lost over 1.5 billion page views since the 2016 election thanks to Facebook’s attempts to stifle free speech, for example.
Twitter, meanwhile, has been accused of ‘shadowbanning‘ conservatives.
“Jack Dorsey is trying to influence the election, to sway the election,” Loomer claimed. “That is why he is censoring and shadow banning conservatives.”
Twitter said Tuesday that not even Donald Trump is immune from being kicked off the platform if his tweets cross a line with abusive behavior https://t.co/yQ5B7DMM1V
— POLITICO (@politico) September 4, 2018
This isn’t the first time Long has used his auctioneer skills in his role as Congressman.
In 2011 he rattled off the national debt on the floor of the House. You can watch that video here.
At that time, the national debt sat at $14 trillion. It now sits at over $20 trillion.
“Being an auctioneer in Congress, the way our debt is running out of control, they find it very handy to have Jeff Duncan and myself here in Washington,” Long said. “We are one of the few people who can actually keep up with the national debt.”
Now he’s trying to keep up with protesters.
