Young headbutts camera after being pestered to answer a simple question

Watch as Rep. Don Young headbutts a camera and refuses to answer a question from a political activist about foreign governments interfering in U.S. elections.

Rather than answer “no,” he struggles to control himself until he gives up and puts on a dumb display. At least he didn’t smash his head into the camera or start screaming. In a private business, he would be fired for doing this, but Young is a career congressman.

Yes, the activist from Move On was pestering him, but the questioner wasn’t being rude. A lot of Alaskans are asking the same question and this is an issue that warrants something other than this juvenile behavior by Young.

The video is also a reminder that there is a never-ending supply of ambitious young people eager to get on the federal payroll, degrade themselves, and sweep up after Young, pretending they are working for the American people.

“I don’t think he wants to talk right now,” Young’s cleanup man says. “You can get in touch with Zack.”

“Just asking the same question over and over again is not going to get you guys anywhere. But if you talk to Zack (Brown) in our office, he’s our press secretary. He’s the best person to talk to you about this and will be able to get you something back.”

Young always has government workers who are paid to put words in his mouth, which is why official statements from him are almost always fiction and sound nothing like a guy who headbutts cameras. The statements are quoted in press reports as if they actually came from Young. The latest example is the alleged statement from Young that followed the impeachment vote.

“This is a sad day for this great institution,” Young is supposed to have said, according to whoever wrote Young’s statement, a comment that applies more to the headbutt display than the impeachment inquiry.

Here is an actual Young quote from a story by Liz Ruskin of Alaska Public Media that should have been in every story in the Alaska press about Young and impeachment, instead of the sanitized press release.

“They won’t have the Foreign Affairs Committee in it,” Young said. “They should’ve, because most of the witnesses, in secret, have been from the State Department, and that’s wrong. So it’s a bad deal, and I voted no, and I’m saying I’m dead-right on it.”

Young was dead wrong.

As Ruskin reports, "Foreign Affairs is one of the committees that has been taking depositions behind closed doors in the basement of the Capitol, jointly with House Intel and Oversight, and it’s among the committees assigned to continue the probe."

So one of Young's major claims is erroneous. And he didn't know an important fact about the matter of which he is so confident.

Dermot Cole10 Comments