WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressional Democrats spent a significant portion of the evening sitting on their hands as Donald Trump delivered a masterful State of the Union address on Tuesday evening.
One of them? From New Jersey? He couldn’t wait to shake the Republican president’s hand… and be photographed doing it.
Jeff Van Drew (D, NJ-02) reached out and tapped Trump, more than once, to get his attention as he entered the House chamber to thunderous applause. Van Drew finally scored his handshake after Trump turned around to greet him. Our Blogger-in-Chief Matt Rooney caught the moment:
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Jeff Van Drew (D, NJ-02) just tapped Trump on the shoulder (multiple times) as POTUS entered the House chamber. Finally got a handshake when Trump reluctantly turned around. Trump won JVD's district in '16. #SOTU pic.twitter.com/w1yeytVcGC
— Matt Rooney (@MattRooneyNJ) February 6, 2019
Jeff Van Drew really scrambling for that POTUS handshake (h/t @MattRooneyNJ) pic.twitter.com/4VeZgeTeF8
— Alex Wilkes (@AlexandraWilkes) February 6, 2019
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Rep. Van Drew, a freshman member from Cape May County, is considered one of the House’s few “moderate” Democrats. He needs to be. Trump carried his district in 2016; Bob Hugin carried it in 2018 and Kim Guadagno won there in 2017. He garnered some attention for himself earlier this term by enthusiastically shouting “no” to oppose Nancy Pelosi’s ascension to the speakership.
Don’t be surprised if the image above ends up in a 2020 Van Drew reelection ad.
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