Well, that was awkward.
After hundreds of people lined up to hear Comedy Central personality Stephen Colbert testify before Congress on migrant farm workers, Michigan Democratic Rep. John Conyers asked him to leave the room without saying a word.
“I would like to recommend that now we got all this attention that you excuse yourself and you let us get on with the three witnesses and all the other members there,” Conyers said. “I’m asking you to leave the committee room completely, and submit your statement.”
Colbert did not budge. He replied that he was a guest of committee Chairman Rep. Zoe Lofgren and would appeal to her judgment.
“Many are eager to hear his comments,” she said, overriding Conyers’s request.
Colbert was testifying before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration after interviewing United Farm Workers President Aurturo Rodriguez about agricultural workers, and spending a day working with day laborers on a farm in New York.
Conyers backed down and later withdrew his request of Colbert to leave the room.