House Speaker Paul Ryan was snubbed by some eighth-grade New Jersey students who refused to take a picture with him while touring the Capitol in Washington, D.C. last week.
About half of the touring students from South Orange Middle School, totaling about 100, declined to participate in the photo Thursday during their field trip to the nation's capital, according to WABC-TV.
"I think that taking the picture represents that you agree with the same political views and I don't agree with his political views so I chose not to be in it," Wendy Weeks, one of the boycotting students told local media outlet The Village Green.
Another student, Matthew Malespina, told the Washington Post that he disagreed with Ryan and the Republican Party on health care and other issues.
"I don't like to take a picture with somebody that I can't associate with," Malespina told the Post. "Let's say somebody is not nice to me at school, for example. I wouldn't take a picture with them, probably."
Other students, though, disagreed and participated in the photo, noted the website.
"I thought it would be interesting to see one of the nation's lawmakers in person even if I strongly disagree with many of his views," said Alex Klint, a South Orange Middle School student who did take a photo with Ryan.
Ryan posted the photo on his Instagram account last week as he gave a fist bump to one.
South Orange-Maplewood School District superintendent John J. Ramos Sr. issued a statement about the incident Monday, saying that the students who did not participate in the photo waited quietly across the street while the picture was taken, noted The Village Green.
"While we should all respectfully and appropriately acknowledge those in authority, taking a conscientious position about a photo op is within our constitutional right," Ramos wrote in the statement posted by The Village Green.
"We are proud of all of our students, who exercised their rights and chose whether or not to participate for their own individual reasons. It seems that our collective focus needs to be on more substantive issues, such as the proposed budget and various matters that are silently unfolding."
Response on social media was mixed.
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