Rep. Joe Cunningham, a newly elected Democrat congressman from South Carolina, was prevented from entering the House floor on Friday because he was carrying a six-pack of beer on his person.
As Cunningham himself explained on Twitter, the beers were meant to be a gift for Rep. Peter DeFazio, co-chair of the House’s Small Brewers Caucus.
"Making friends when you’re a freshman is hard and I thought I’d grease the skids with some Lowcountry beer," he remarked, adding that DeFazio got the six-pack in the end.
His words and actions elicited a mixed reaction on social media, with netizens both appearing amused by this development and critical of Cunningham.
According to The Post and Courier, Cunningham’s six-pack was “a compilation of three different Charleston-area beers, including Dead Arm from Coast (a pale ale at 6 per cent alcohol by volume), White Thai from Westbrook Brewing Company (a Belgian wheat) and One Claw (a pale ale), also from Westbrook.”
Coast Brewing apparently took note of this development and suggested he should’ve included their 32/50 Kolsch because “it’s very bipartisan”.