Watch: GOP senator's husband snubs Harris handshake

A Republican senator’s husband is getting flamed on social media after he appeared to swerve Vice President Kamala Harris’ handshake during Friday’s swearing-in ceremony.

A video reposted to social media shows Sen. Deb Fischer’s husband, Bruce Fischer, refusing to shake Harris’ hand after the outgoing vice president swore in the senator for her third term.

The exchange began with Harris leading the senator to recite the oath of office. The two women then shook hands. When Harris turned to Fischer’s husband, however, he only nodded in return. They then posed for an—er—awkward photo op in which it’s clear that neither Harris nor Fischer’s husband wants to be there.

Maybe that wasn’t apparent to the senator, though. She posted the picture of her and her husband—who kept a safe distance from Harris—to her social media.

“Together we will continue to stand tall for our shared values and take care of our people. We will protect this nation,” Fischer said. “We will build a stronger Nebraska. And we will secure that brighter future for our children and grandchildren.”

Naturally, the clip—and Bruce’s stoic expression throughout the ordeal—elicited several reactions on the internet, ranging from those praising his snub to others describing his behavior as tasteless.

In one post, best-selling author Don Winslow called Bruce’s actions “disgraceful.”

“It’s disgraceful that Bruce Fischer, husband to incoming GOP Senator Deb Fischer, cannot muster a few seconds of class to shake the hands of @VP Kamala Harris. States,” he wrote. “IMO, only thing Bruce showed here was that pigs don’t only live on farms. He is a pig.”

Progressive YouTuber and MSNBC contributor Brian Tyler Cohen echoed a similar sentiment. 

“The level of class you can expect from MAGA,” Cohen added.

Fischer won a hard-fought reelection battle in November in which she dashed Democrats’ hopes of retaining control of the U.S. Senate. That month, she eked out a win over independent Dan Osborn, who might have caucused with Democrats if elected. Fischer’s win helped Republicans clinch control of the Senate.

Her husband’s grandstanding is remarkable, in part, because his wife wasn’t even hardcore MAGA until recently. Like some other Republicans, Fischer called on Trump to step down from the Republican nomination in 2016 after a video of Trump making very lewd remarks about women surfaced. 

However, Fischer changed her tune days later and endorsed him for the presidency that same year. Fischer also publicly backed Trump over Harris in last year’s race.

Trump, for his part, seems to be a fan of Fischer, but it’s possible that his endorsement of her reelection bid had less to do with his affinities for the senator and more to do with his being worried Republicans might lose a seat in the upper chamber. 

But whatever the reason for Bruce Fischer’s actions, the viral moment came under a wide specter of irony. After all, Democrats have gone above and beyond to point out that they’re following the democratic process and committed to a peaceful transfer of power to a group that tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election. There’s also something to be said about the fact that the video of Bruce’s snub went viral on the fourth anniversary of Jan. 6, 2021, of all days.

That was the context in which the apparently MAGA-loving husband of Sen. Fischer refused to do a courtesy handshake with the nation’s first female, first Black, and first Asian vice president. 

Welcome to Trump World 2.0.