Thread by @EithanHaim

At President Trump's speech last night, I was sitting right behind the Democrats in the gallery.

I had a perfect bird's eye view of everything.

No doubt very dramatic for all of those watching but there was so much more the cameras missed. 🧵

Not only did the Dems not applaud or stand for the stories honoring average Americans but neither did their guests in the gallery.

Even for the most heartwarming moments most stayed seated, very few ever applauded.

It was heart-breaking to see.

During these moments I could see entire rows of Democrats staring down at their phones.

I was close enough to see what they were looking at - most were texting or scrolling through social media feeds.

The only moment during the speech that generated enthusiastic, collective applause was when Trump mentioned spending hundreds of billions on Ukraine. There were 5 or 6 Dems that immediately pulled out Ukrainian flags and started waving them.

This was notable since their applause was not meant to celebrate any result of that spending (i.e. a tangible victory for Ukraine or benefit to America) but was in response to the mention of "spending" itself.

The fact that this was so natural and immediate was unnerving. It was the only thing that pulled their faces away from their phones.

Not the celebration of life in our homeland but death of hundreds of thousands in a foreign one.

Beyond the applause, there were a few other other notable observations.

After Al Green started yelling and shaking his cane at Trump, the first person security approached was not Green but Nancy Pelosi, almost like she was the pit boss for the Dem side.

I could tell she not pleased since I didn't even see her turn her head towards the security guard.

This would have required Pelosi to look towards her right side which was the direction where Green was embarrassing himself in front of the country.

Not really surprised by her reaction since this would have compounded the collective sense of defeat on the Dem side of the chamber.

While the cameras were focused on the characters on the chamber floor, they missed the ones in the gallery.

Like a young woman caddy corner to my left.

It looked like she was dressed in sweats and was fully passed out for the entire speech.

And it didn't seem like this was an act of protest or defiance but that she was actually sleeping, working her way through multiple REM cycles.

She even used the tight seating in the gallery to her benefit - relying on her neighbors' shoulders and arms to achieve the most comfortable position possible for an extended tiger snooze.

At one point I thought she was snoring. Unfortunately, I was too far away to obtain audible verification.

Then there was a young guy with a voluminous shoulder-length mullet, a Lieutenant Dan-esque military jacket, and blue jeans.

One of the guys sitting next to me said it was likely one of Peter Thiels famous tech prodigies.

Probably top three coolest people in the room I imagine.

Then there was the entire row of mainstream media journalists - about a dozen or so - directly behind Trump in the gallery.

What made this stand out was that they all had the same grey MacBook which formed a wall of apple logos.

It was too symbolic for the current moment in American history.

The irony was almost too much given the viral video earlier that day which showed over twenty Democrat senators reading the same script, using the same microphone, producing one of the most cringeworthy displays of shameless inauthenticity.

But the most remarkable part of it all was the indescribable energy coming from the Republicans.

It was truly a sight to see such an impressive group of people, from every possible background and every political persuasion coalesce around a shared vision.

One of the most important moments in American history and I was able to be a part of it. Will be forever grateful for Senator Hawley having me as a guest. @HawleyMO.