{"id":5318,"date":"2026-07-31T09:35:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T09:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propertyrelocationusa.com\/?p=5318"},"modified":"2026-07-31T09:35:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T09:35:42","slug":"senator-triggers-online-backlash-after-ludicrous-fracas-with-reporter-what-is-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertyrelocationusa.com\/?p=5318","title":{"rendered":"Senator triggers online backlash after ‘ludicrous’ fracas with reporter: ‘What is this?’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Republican senator apologized for siccing security on a reporter, but it came too late to avoid being skewered online.<\/p>\n

Read more Alarms sound as Trump makes \u2018striking\u2019 turn away from his \u2018corrupt bargain\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

On Thursday, Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) called for security and ran away after TMZ DC co-managing editor Charlie Cotton pressed him with questions about the absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY).<\/p>\n

“Do you think Mitch McConnell needs to do more to prove his health?” Cotton asked. Ricketts answered, saying McConnell, who’s been out of the public eye since mid-June, deserves “the time he needs.” Cotton pressed him with a follow-up question, but Ricketts called out for the Capitol Police to “Stop him!”<\/p>\n

“I reacted poorly,” Ricketts later wrote in a post on X. “I appreciate @hicharliecotton taking my phone call so I could apologize.”<\/p>\n

Cotton responded on X, writing, “I accept your apology Pete. I respect anyone who can take accountability when they make a mistake. Thank u for the call – I look fwd to our next conversation.”<\/p>\n

However, online critics were shocked to see Cotton’s video of the incident and vented their outrage before Ricketts could get off scot-free.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s \u2018twitches and glitches\u2019 alarm expert amid fresh health concerns<\/a><\/p>\n

“What is this?” Drop Site News reporter Julian Andreone reacted on X. “They were coming from the basement, which is inside the building, meaning Charlie, a credentialed reporter, had already been through security and is free to navigate the Russell office building and film anywhere within it he’d like.”<\/p>\n

“This is ludicrous!” Eric Michael Garcia, the DC bureau chief for The Independent, posted. “Charlie is doing his job and posed no security threat to Ricketts.”<\/p>\n

“A senator can say no comment or say nothing,” NOTUS reporter Igor Bobic wrote. “But reporters have every right to ask him questions in a public hallway.”<\/p>\n

“Why did Capitol Police stop a reporter from asking questions?” MS NOW congressional reporter Matt Fuller asked. “The answer is because Sen. Pete Ricketts asked them to, but this is a wholly inappropriate use of the Capitol Police.”<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Guaranteed death\u2019: Another GOP senator comes out swinging against Trump\u2019s demands<\/a><\/p>\n