It was weird enough on Wednesday when Rep. Andrew Clyde (Q-GA) compared the January 6th Capitol riots to "a normal tourist visit." But things take an even freakier turn when NBC reporters Leigh Ann Caldwell and Daniella Diaz ask if he stands by his words that the insurrection was "like a Capitol tour."
Clyde's long silence before speaking is creepy enough. He at first looks startled in the "oh-shit" kind of way and turns his back on the reporters, walking away as if he wishes they would just disappear. But realizing he isn't getting off that easy, he then turns to them, cracks a smug smile, takes a good look at his shoes, glances back at each reporter, rechecks his shoes, and finally looks up as if he's trying to formulate a thought. The drawn-out silence on his part lasts an uncomfortable 16 seconds before he responds with patronizing nonsense – the second reason why this scene is so bizarre.
"If you're honest in your statement…" he says slowly.
"What's wrong about it?" one of the reporters asks.
"Well, think about what you just said," Clyde angrily scolds. "You didn't take what I said in context at all." (Yes, actually they did. Both videos below show this.)
"Can you explain it?" they ask.
"You don't listen to what I said," Clyde says. (In reality, they basically repeated exactly what he said.) He ends the awkward exchange by turning his back to them once again, scuttling into the street, and hopping into a red pick-up truck.
