You know how celebrities read mean tweets on Jimmy Kimmel Live? For fans of late night comedy shows, it's caustic and hilarious content that gets a laugh out of everyone, including the famous people the tweets target. Now, it looks someone on Capitol Hill tried to do the same thing. House Speaker Paul Ryan read "mean tweets" in a video on Wednesday — and Twitter users seemed to be left scratching their heads.
The video is slightly over a minute long. In it, Ryan reads several tweets where he's insulted by being likened to pleated khakis and a Disney villain among other things. The video starts with a black background that, perhaps written sarcastically, says, "Speaker Ryan reads messages from his supporters." One of the Twitter users wrote, "Paul Ryan could be a live action Disney villain. #WidowsPeak." Ryan reads it out loud and responds, shrugging, "They used to call me Eddie Munster, so it's not too much of a stretch."
Another tweet says, "Paul Ryan is proof that you don't need a spine to do P90x." (P90x is an abbreviation for Power 90 Extreme, which was first started by Tony Horton.) The exercise regimen refers to a set of dietary changes and intense workouts that take place over 90 days for results that can be pretty amazing. It turns out that Ryan is a fan of the workout and nutrition regimen.
In 2012, Ryan told POLITICO, "I’m kind of a workout guy. I’ve always been into it. [Former Mich. Rep.] Bart Stupak and I lead [P90X classes] — there’s about a dozen of us that do it. It works because it hits your body in many different ways: pull-ups, sit-ups, lots of cardio, karate, jump training, yoga. It pushes your body ... and gets you out of your plateau."
"Woodchucks eating Paul Ryan's car has given me hope for the future," another tweet says. Ryan responds here with "My car dealer as well." Things get intense in the next tweet where someone says, "I want to high five Paul Ryan's face with a shovel. Just hard enough to make him see birdies. Hate that smug look." The House Speaker reacts by giving the Twitter user presumably the same expression they loathe.
In another tweet, someone describes Ryan as "the kind of guy who crashes your kegger, drinks all your beer, and then calls the cops to make a noise complaint." And Ryan doesn't seem to disagree as he responded, "Pretty good idea."
Another person said that if pleated khakis became a person, they would look like Ryan. The House Speaker reacts by saying that he hasn't worn a pair in "at least six months." At the end of the video, a message appears on the screen saying, "Nice tweets are welcome, too."
Although some found his video funny, many Twitter users reacted with confusion. One person on Twitter said, "Did Paul Ryan make this video in his office but add his own fake laugh track like this was a Kimmel bit? I'm so confused." One of the hosts from the podcast, Pod Save America, Tommy Vietor simply told Ryan, "Congrats on stealing this bit and executing it poorly."
