‘At least you’re not a cat’: Republican gets stuck upside down in awkward Zoom blunder

‘You’re upside-down, Tom’

A Minnesota representative became the second figure this week to be involved in a Zoom mishap, when he appeared upside-down in a video conference.

While speaking about financial services during a virtual House Committee meeting on Wednesday, Republican congressman Tom Emmer was interrupted by chairwoman Maxine Waters because his face was upside-down.

“Will the gentleman suspend?” the California representative asked during the meeting, before adding: “I’m sorry, Mr. Emmer — are you OK?”

As his colleagues laughed at the absurd situation, Mr Emmer replied: “I am”, prompting another congressman to tell him: “You’re upside-down, Tom.”

Mr Emmer told his colleagues that he had no idea why his video was upside-down, adding: “I don't know how to fix that.”

While the congressman tried to sort out the situation, one of his colleagues shouted: “You’re going viral, Tom!” while another jokingly asked: “Is this a metaphor?”

One person referenced a viral video from the day before where Texas attorney Rod Ponton showed up to a call with a cat filter on display, shouting at Mr Emmer: “At least you're not a cat!”

Mr Emmer continued to struggle with his attempts to fix the video, telling the meeting: “I don't know what happened. It just came out this way. I turned off, and I turned it back on, and I'm still.…”

However, the congressman’s screen adjusted right side up just a few seconds later, prompting cheers from some of his colleagues.

The incident was reminiscent of Mr Ponton’s viral call during a virtual hearing on Tuesday, where after struggling to remove the filter, he frantically told the judge: “I'm here live. I'm not a cat.”

Countless jokes and memes spawned from the encounter, but Mr Ponton told The New York Times that he was happy to provide some laughter.

“If I can make the country chuckle for a moment in these difficult times they're going through, I'm happy to let them do that at my expense,” the attorney said.

Mr Emmer even got involved in the jokes on Wednesday evening, as he tweeted a screenshot of his upside-down face with the caption: “I am not a cat.”