If you’ve ever seen Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) in an interview or during one of his strange, late-night speeches on the House floor, you’ve probably noticed that he’s an excitable sort of guy. In fact, if you’re like me, you may have wondered, “Is Gohmert like that all the time? Even when there are no cameras around?”
As it happens, we may have a good answer to that question. Politico reports today on a “late-night verbal altercation” between the far-right congressman and U.S. Park Police, following a parking ticket at the Lincoln Memorial.
Shortly after 11 p.m. on March 13, officers wrote Rep. Louie Gohmert a citation for parking his black Ford SUV in a spot reserved for National Park Service vehicles, according to a Park Police report obtained by POLITICO.
But Gohmert wasn’t having it: He told the Park Police that his congressional parking placard allows him to park in that spot, and he’s on the committee that oversees the agency.
Gohmert took the ticket off his windshield and placed it on a police car along with his business card with a written message: “Oversight of Park Service is my job! Natural Resources Thus the Congressional Plate in window.”
One officer reported that the Republican congressman was “ranting,” while another said the congressman was “rude and irate.”
Louie Gohmert? Ranging and irate? You don’t say.
All of this, incidentally, was over a parking ticket that carried a fine totaling just $25. What’s more, according to the Politico article, Gohmert’s congressional plate would not allow a lawmaker to park in a reserved spot near the Lincoln Memorial.
As for why the congressman wanted to go to the Lincoln Memorial shortly after 11 p.m., his spokesperson said he was showing some family members the sights.
Granted, on the list of outrageous stories about Louie Gohmert, this wouldn’t even crack the top 10 — remember when he got hysterical about “terror babies“? — but the fact that the Republican congressman was just as obnoxious to police officers as he is to everyone else at least tells us his over-the-top shtick isn’t an act.
The way he rants and raves for the cameras is just how he is. Good to know.
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