Reuters
Lead House impeachment manager Rep. Adam Schiff at President Donald Trump's impeachment trial at the Senate on Thursday.
- Republican senators whipped out an arsenal of fidget spinners during Thursday's impeachment hearings.
- Sens. Richard Burr, Mike Rounds, Tom Cotton, and Pat Toomey were all seen toying with the device, which was originally designed for restless children.
- It's a rotating device set on ball bearings, which spins for a long period of time once flicked. They were all the rage in 2017.
- The source of the toys was Burr, according to NBC, who handed them to colleagues before the second day of Trump's impeachment inquiry, where opening statements were heard.
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President Donald Trump's Thursday impeachment hearings took a trip down memory lane to 2017 as multiple restless Republican senators were spotted playing with fidget spinners.
Soon after House impeachment manager Jerry Nadler began his opening statements, Sen. Richard Burr started flicking a blue fidget spinner.
A fidget spinner is a rotating device set on ball bearings, which spins for a long period of time once flicked. It was designed for restless kids, and even adults.
Shutterstock
A green fidget spinner, a tool to help focus the minds of restless children, and adults.
New York Times reporter Catie Edmonson tweeted this rendering of Burr at the hearing by a Times sketch artist on Thursday. You can see the fidget spinner on his desk.
Sen. Mike Rounds also got in on the action. This image was shared to Twitter by USA Today politics reporter Nicholas Wu on Thursday.
"They do last for quite a while," Rounds said of the toy, according to Wu. "Not that it might outlast some of the dissertation we have in there, but it might make the time go a little quicker."
Sens. Tom Cotton and Pat Toomey were seen with fidget spinners on their desks, too. Cotton's was purple and Toomey's was white.
Burr had distributed all these spinners on Thursday morning, NBC News reported.
Associated Press
Sen. Richard Burr displays a stress ball as he walks to the Senate Chamber prior Trump's impeachment trial at the Capitol on January 23, 2020.
Other Republican senators chose to pass the time with other distractions.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, was spotted reading a book, according to NPR, while NBC News reported that Sen. Rand Paul "appeared to be drawing or tracing a sketch of the US Capitol."
Trump and many of his allies have dismissed the entire impeachment trial as a hoax.
- Read more:
- What to expect on day 3 of opening arguments in Trump's impeachment trial
- Trump's lawyers are fighting impeachment like a Fox News spectacle to rile up the president's base and warn senators they'll lose their seats if they defect
- Democrats have a new tactic to blow up Trump's impeachment defense - using the president's own words against himself
- 'If the truth doesn't matter, we're lost': On day 2 of opening arguments, House prosecutors hammered Trump for abusing his power and laid the groundwork to remove him from office
Our wonderful sketch artist captured Mr. Burr and his fidget spinner on the Senate floor, as referenced in this story https://t.co/8TWTydGbzOhttps://t.co/HMlHxAype3 pic.twitter.com/FcRs5EKYey
- Catie Edmondson (@CatieEdmondson) January 24, 2020Sen. Mike Rounds showed off his fidget spinner to reporters. pic.twitter.com/lEUEXyeozz
- Nicholas Wu (@nicholaswu12) January 24, 2020