Speaker Paul Ryan faced some of his harshest critics this week - in the form of a bunch of preteens.
Eighth grade students from South Orange Middle School in South Orange, New Jersey were on a school trip to Washington D.C. on Friday when they were given the opportunity to take a photo with Paul Ryan.
Under normal circumstances, many students would leap for the chance to take a photo with the third most powerful politician in the country.
However, local media in South Orange reported that close to 100 student refused to be photographed with the politician.
“It’s not just a picture,” student Matthew Malespina told The Village Green. “It’s being associated with a person who puts his party before his country.”
When he learned of his school’s impending photo op with Ryan, Malespina texted his mother he’s “just not going to do it.”
“The point was, ‘I don’t want to be associated with him, and his policies and what he stands for,’” Matthew’s mother Elissa Malespina said.
An equal number of students opted to participate in the photo.
