Returning Republican Congresswoman, Claudia Tenney, confirmed her claim to the Daily Caller that House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, wouldn’t allow her son from attending Tenney’s swearing-in ceremony. Her win comes after 100 days of fighting and waiting to see who won New York’s 22nd congressional district. Tenney only 109 votes over the incumbent, Anthony Brindisi.
One of former President Trump’s Press Secretaries, Sean Spicer, tweeted about the situation on Thursday and broke the story.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, all members of congress who were elected were allowed to bring one person to witness their achievement. Those selected to watch would do so from the Capitol Building Gallery.
Tenney was on Fox and Friends on Friday where she said, “I just would have loved to have my son with me. I raised him as a single parent. We’ve been with each other, nothing greater day than his graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy, it was such an honor and now he is serving our country.”
She continued to say the request to have her son present was denied unlike the other members of congress who had been afforded the courtesy the month before.
Tenney went on to say that her son, a United States Marine Corps Captain, “waited outside the gallery door.”
Drew Hammill, Pelosi’s spokesman, told Fox News, the decision had nothing to do with politics and the same thing would’ve happened to anyone else.
He also said that these matters didn’t fall under Pelosi’s jurisdiction. Hammill said, “The COVID restrictions are set by the House Sergeant at Arms and the Attending Physician.”