Anna Paulina Luna dismisses Cabinet member’s attempt to smack her butt at Trump’s midterm convention
Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna has brushed aside suggestions that Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner attempted to smack her butt at last week’s Republican National Convention in Texas.
A video of Luna taking to the stage at the two-day bash in Dallas last Wednesday went viral over speculation about Turner appearing to swing his open right palm backwards as he passed the congresswoman en route to the exit, albeit without making contact.
Luna did not react at the time, instead beaming and waving to the crowd who cheered on her entrance at the American Airlines Center.
MeidasTouch’s Pablo Manriquez approached the representative on the steps of the Capitol Monday to invite her to “clear the air” over what happened between them, telling her: “The internet wants to know.”
“Oh my goodness,” she answered, good humoredly. “I actually was walking towards, at that point, to speak, so I didn’t even see that until after the fact, and one could only assume that maybe it was just a – he played football, you know?
“But no. There was no contact, you know? I think that he’s obviously a former football player and maybe he went for a high five. I don’t know.”
A college athlete at the University of Illinois, Turner played in the NFL for eight seasons between 1995 and 2003 as a cornerback for the Washington Redskins (now the Washington Commanders), the San Diego Chargers (now the Los Angeles Chargers) and the Denver Broncos.
Following his retirement, he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2013, serving until 2017 and was then the executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council at the end of President Donald Trump’s first term.
The Independent has reached out to both the representative and the secretary’s department for comment.
The non-spank was the subject of intense discussion during the convention, not least at The Bulwark where journalist Sam Stein rewatched the footage several times in “Zapruder” slow-motion with colleagues and concluded: “He looks like he’s about to slap her a**!”
“I assume what was going on there was, it was supposed to be a low-five,” said Catherine Rampell. “I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt… I think it’s awkwardness.”
The consensus appears to have settled around Rampell’s point of view, with one person responding to the outlet’s discussion by writing on X: “He absolutely went to hit her on the hip/a** the way athletes do to each other and then stopped himself.”
Pro-Trump X account Johnny Maga called the near-miss moment “the absolute save of the century,” likewise reading it as Turner restraining himself just in time to avoid causing an incident.
Trump’s convention attracted controversy before it even began when many congressional Republicans made their excuses and declined to attend, with some frankly saying their time would be better spent campaigning in their districts or openly baulking at the $25,000 entrance fee they were expected to cough up.
When it did get underway, the president’s headline address – in which he promised voters a $5,000 “Trump Dividend” if Republicans retain the House and Senate in November – was hit by a big screen glitching behind him and widespread reports of empty chairs inside the 21,000-seat arena.
The event went on to attract attention over a surprise appearance from Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, a wild speech by his South Carolina Republican counterpart Tim Scott and the unofficial coronation of Vice President JD Vance as Trump’s successor in waiting.
