Paul Ryan showed off his lighter side on Wednesday, offering Twitter followers a spoken rendition of some of the mean tweets he has received since becoming Speaker of the House.
While not all of the barbs were particularly cutting, they were pretty creative — gently mocking Ryan for his widow’s peak, his workout routine and his embrace of President Trump.
“Paul Ryan is proof that you don’t need a spin to do P90X,” he read chuckling. Another man said he wished he could hit the speaker in the face with a shovel.
What do Eddie Munster, P90x, and woodchucks have in common? They all show up in my Twitter mentions ?♂️ pic.twitter.com/J9YcYJAXmh
— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) July 25, 2018
The skit from Ryan is an homage to late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who popularized the gag of having celebrities rthe ead mean tweets they receive on his show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” The similarity didn’t go unnoticed, with Crooked Media founder Tommy Vieter calling Ryan out for “stealing this bit and executing it poorly”
Congrats on stealing this bit and executing it poorly
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) July 25, 2018
President Obama once infamously read a mean tweet on Kimmel’s show from a trash-talking billionaire named Donald Trump who said he would go down as “perhaps the worst president in the history of the United States.”
“At least I will go down as a president,” Obama responded, dropping the phone.
The skit was aired on Oct. 24, 2016. Two weeks later, Donald Trump was elected president.