New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez engaging in polite conversation with Arizona representative Paul Gosar and then a tense exchange with Florida representative Matt Gaetz has left Twitter users curious and searching for lip readers.
Two videos from the day-long voting session in Congress on Tuesday over the election of a new speaker hangs in the balance and ended with no final verdict.
Twitter users, however, were in an overdrive as political opponents were seen coming together and sharing some tense moments.
In one clip, Ms Ocasio-Cortez is seen chatting with Mr Gosar, who earlier infamously shared an anime video of him killing her and Joe Biden with a sword and engaging in what appeared like a polite conversation.
The conversation left many in shock as Ms Ocasio-Cortez is known for her liberal and progressive stands while Mr Gosar has been accused of having ties to white nationalists.
“Where is @BadLipReading when we need them,” wrote journalist Marcus James Dixon, tagging a content creator who intentionally poorly lip reads video clips for comedic effect.
“He’s trying to explain a funny video he saw on the TikToks,” wrote writer Brian Jay Jones in an apparent reference to Mr Gosar’s infamous anime.
“Did not have Gosar and AOC chatting on my bingo card,” wrote Jim Benemann.
While some Twitter users were stunned, others pointed out that they are colleagues and the casual chat should not come as a shock.
In another exchange, the New York congresswoman was seen having a tense conversation with Mr Gaetz. A clip of this other conversation did not capture the audio either, leaving Twitter users curious about what was going on.
Ms Ocasio-Cortez later told reporters of media outlets, including The Independent, that she spoke with Mr Gosar since he said Mr McCarthy had floated a proposal that Democrats might lower the threshold for a vote for speaker.
“And I said absolutely not,” she said, adding that Democrats would not help Republicans secure the speakership.
“Not that I’ve seen,” she told The Independent.
She also told reporters she had been discussing the adjournment strategy with Mr Gosar.
