Correction: This piece originally stated Sen. Fischer’s husband was a professor at the University of Nebraska. He owns a ranching business with his wife.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln received a torrent of misguided online abuse this week after angry commentators mistook the husband of a senator for one of its employees.
On Friday, Sen. Deborah Fischer (R-Neb). was sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris after winning re-election. During the ceremony, her husband, Bruce Fischer was filmed declining to shake Harris’ hand.
A video of the exchange gained traction after getting posted over the weekend by political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen.
Bruce Fischer-Kamala Harris video
In the clip, Fischer takes the oath and shakes hands with Harris. Harris addresses the senator, saying, “Congratulations. Thank you for your work.”
Harris then turns to Bruce Fischer asking “may I congratulate you?” and holds out her hand. Fischer then replies “thank you” but declines to shake her outstretched hand.
Reacting to the clip, Cohen wrote, “The level of class you can expect from MAGA.”
Left-wing supporters have come to Harris’ defense, criticizing the senator’s husband as a “racist” and “sexist.”
Another responded to the clip, saying, “What an absolutely pathetic display of fragility and hate. The bare minimum—shaking someone’s hand—is apparently too much for these people. This is cave-dweller behavior, plain and simple. No class, no decency, just pure spite.”
Some accused Cohen of a misleading edit of the video clip. People pointed out Fischer’s use of a walking cane and the fact he was holding a Bible as part of the swearing-in ceremony, making it difficult for him to shake Harris’ hand.
One wrote, “He had a Bible in one hand and his cane in the other. What exactly was he supposed to do?”
However, internet users tracked down old video of Fischer’s previous swearings-in, where she shook then-Vice President Mike Pence’s hand.
In 2013, noticeably less partisan times, Fischer also shook the hand of then-Vice Joe President Biden.
Despite these different interpretations of the video, upset liberals targeted social media accounts of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
That’s because a Bruce Fischer works at the school works at the school as an associate professor emeritus in the School of Architectural Engineering and Construction.
But that professor is not the senator’s wife, who owns a ranching business in Nebraska.
Nevertheless, the school received a torrent of abuse.
In response to one of the university’s latest posts, one X user wrote, “You must all be so proud.”
The movement crossed social platforms, with users on Facebook responding to recent posts by the university to complain about Fischer’s actions.
And a recent post on Instagram of a snowstorm on campus was flooded with remarks as well, all directed at the wrong person.
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