Republican Surprises Fellow House Members With Bizarre Gift

The Florida Republican previously sparked backlash for his joke about last year's hammer attack on Paul Pelosi.
LOADINGERROR LOADING

One Florida lawmaker’s grenade is another lawmaker’s present.

Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) gave out inert 40mm grenades complete with an elephant logo to fellow House members on Thursday after he was named to the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees.

The grenades, Mills noted in a letter alongside the gift, were developed for the Vietnam War and manufactured in Florida.

Juan Ayala, a spokesperson for Mills, told The Washington Post that the grenades were inert and “were cleared through all security metrics.”

It’s unclear how many grenades the Trump-backed Republican handed out to fellow House members.

HuffPost attempted to reach out to Mills’ office for comment but the mailbox for a phone number associated with his office was full.

Rep @CoryMillsFL is passing out grenades to fellow House members pic.twitter.com/khJmDrYcFH

— Morgan Phillips (@_phillipsmorgan) January 26, 2023

Mills’ gift comes weeks after Congress removed metal detectors installed outside the House floor in the wake of the deadly Jan. 6 attack.

The Florida lawmaker previously sparked backlash for his joke about last year’s hammer attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (R-Calif.).

Twitter users weighed in on Mills’ gift and joked that the grenades are inert “much like” the Republican-majority Congress.

In the spirit of working together … here’s an inert grenade … pic.twitter.com/bgXm1Tzh2z

— Chief The Second (@ChiefTheSecond1) January 26, 2023

I’m honestly surprised he didn’t just give them gift baskets with real guns.

— JeffProbstsWhiteSneakers (@EBone) January 27, 2023

Go Ad-Free — And Protect The Free Press

The next four years will change America forever. But HuffPost won't back down when it comes to providing free and impartial journalism.

For the first time, we're offering an ad-free experience to qualifying contributors who support our fearless newsroom. We hope you'll join us.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest — we could use your help again. We won't back down from our mission of providing free, fair news during this critical moment. But we can't do it without you.

For the first time, we're offering an ad-free experience. to qualifying contributors who support our fearless journalism. We hope you'll join us.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest — we could use your help again. We won't back down from our mission of providing free, fair news during this critical moment. But we can't do it without you.

For the first time, we're offering an ad-free experience. to qualifying contributors who support our fearless journalism. We hope you'll join us.

Support HuffPost

The performance art is getting to be too much.

— James Raab🏳️🌈🇺🇦 (@JamesRaxz) January 27, 2023

The grenades are inert, much like the Republican Congress.

— Illegitimate Political Discourser (@kevin01o) January 26, 2023

…because nothing says “let’s all work together” like a grenade? This is all you could come up with?

— Rena Langowski (@RenaLangowski) January 26, 2023
Close

What's Hot