There's getting a little choked up. There's shedding a few tears. There's full-on crying. And then, there's John Boehner, American politics' crier-in-chief.
This week, (soon to be former) Speaker of the House Boehner's tear ducts stole the show yet again, definitely upstaging the Pope's little black Fiat and newly-named baby panda Bei Bei to become our #MemeOfTheWeek.
So, what happened?
Well, Pope Francis made a visit to the U.S. this week, and on Thursday, John Boehner arranged for him to make an address before a joint meeting of Congress. Boehner (a devout Catholic), didn't disappoint with the tears. And a lot of the Internet thought it was funny.
Even Evita/Madonna got involved (turn the sound on for this one):
The tears even extended through Friday, when the speaker abruptly announced his resignation:
Of course, there's a history of Boehner crying. According to Politico, he's done it "during a tribute to golf legend Arnold Palmer, while listening to Irish music on St. Patrick's Day (Boehner is of German ancestry) and while singing "America the Beautiful," among other occasions." Of course he cried when he became Speaker of the House. NBC Philadelphia says Boehner's choked up at an unveiling of a Rosa Parks statue, during an event honoring the painter Constantino Brumidi.
But not everyone thought mocking Boehner for expressing his emotions was the right thing to do:
But, in the end, even Boehner was kind of in on the joke:
So hats off to you this week, Mr. Speaker. You got the Pope to the Capitol, you're about to get a lot more time to golf, you won the #MemeOfTheWeek, and you were a good sport about it all.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
