GOP Rep. Broun: Dems' Mixed Seating a 'Trap'

A Democratic proposal for the parties to sit together in Congress during President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday seems innocent enough to most, though not particularly substantive. But that’s not how tea party Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., views it, The Hill reports.

In an interview with conservative radio host Scott Hennen, Broun said he was suspicious of Democrats’ motivations for the mixed seating. "I already believe very firmly that it is a trap and a ruse that Democrats are proposing," Broun says. "They don't want civility. They want silence from the Republicans. And the sitting together being kissy-kissy is just another way to try to silence Republicans, and also to show -- to keep the American people from seeing how few of them there are in the U.S. House now."