Well, you kind of assume that these things happen, but it’s still humorous (and disgusting) to actually catch one. Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan and his family were photographed cleaning dishes for charity over the weekend, surely to demonstrate that Ryan is the every man, the compassionate volunteer, the nation’s savior.

It’s expected that any politician performing a charitable task is only doing so for the publicity. What you don’t see everyday is pretending to look charitable without helping at all.

Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society, a soup kitchen in Youngstown, located in Northeastern Ohio, saw such an event when Ryan’s family entered. The president of the charity, Brian J. Antag, was upset that the Romney campaign had not requested access to the kitchen. Antag stated that he runs an apolitical, faith-based organization which has bylaws barring it from hosting political candidates, and that the visit jeopardized donations from private individuals.

Antag said, “They showed up there and they did not have permission. They got one of the volunteers to open up the doors.” He added that “The photo-op they did wasn’t even accurate. He did nothing. He just came in here to get his picture taken at the dining hall. Had they asked for permission, it wouldn’t have been granted…But I certainly wouldn’t have let him wash clean pans, and then take a picture.”

Apparently, Ryan was cleaning large metal pans that did not appear to be dirty. While the camera rolled, Ryan went on to talk about washing dishes when he was younger. He said he would get calluses on his fingers due to the heat from the industrial machine.

Ryan arrived at a time when the kitchen was clean and the dining area was empty. The kitchen’s Saturday coordinator Juanita Sherba was the volunteer who let the campaign in. “It was the phoniest piece of baloney I’ve ever been associated with. In hindsight, I would have never let him in the door.”

Ryan, who after watching just 30 seconds of this clip is clearly a slimeball, is pictured with family doing dishes in the footage below. It’s so terrible that you really wouldn’t even have to know that it’s fake ahead of time.

 

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