A Democratic senator became the target of mockery after behaving strangely at the opening coin toss of Monday’s Rose Bowl in California.
Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona filmed his surroundings with a cell phone at the start of the contest between Penn State and Utah.
The former naval aviator appeared more interested in his phone than the beginning of the game.
Just wear a GoPro on your head if you’re going to be cell phone video guy in the middle of the Rose Bowl. Come on man pic.twitter.com/AhXHAonHZl
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) January 2, 2023
Kelly filmed with his phone — all the while a broadcast camera captured the pre-coin toss in far greater detail than his phone could have.
Mark Kelly filming the coin toss on his phone—it’s on television! There’s a guy with a huge camera right there!
— Rory Carroll (@Rory_Carroll) January 2, 2023
The referee overseeing the coin toss got Kelly’s name wrong after introducing Kelly’s wife.
“Ms. Gabby Giffords, alongside her husband here, Senator Mark Lewis,” the ref said on a live stadium microphone.
Giffords, a former congresswoman, served as the Grand Marshal of the bowl game’s annual parade.
Kelly smiled awkwardly as the referee drew a blank on his name.
Poor Mark Kelly. Recording the big coin toss moment with his wife and he gets introduced as Mark Lewis
— Dana O’Neil (@DanaONeilWriter) January 2, 2023
Some who watched the game made light of the bizarre exchange, suggesting Kelly deserved to be misidentified.
ref called him by the wrong name to punish him for his foolishness
— tybuddhaboy (@tybuddhaboy) January 2, 2023
Kelly won re-election as a senator in November in a disastrous midterm for Arizona Republicans.
Democrats now control the offices of the governor, attorney general, and secretary of state for the first time since 1974.
The last time three Democrats held the top executive offices in Arizona was 1974.
Registration breakdown then:
REP: 358,167 (42%)
DEM: 444,706 (52%)
OTH: 48,524 (6%)Registration Now
REP: 1,436,852 (34.6%)
DEM: 1,270,544 (30.6%)
OTH (inc. libertarian): 1,436,533 (34.6%)— The AZ – abc15 – Data Guru (@Garrett_Archer) January 2, 2023
Penn State defeated Utah in the Rose Bowl by a score of 35-21.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.