House Republicans recently shared a photo on Twitter of Vice President-elect Mike Pence taking a selfie with representatives from the GOP. It wasn't long until Twitter users began to point out [1] that there was something off about the photo. Paired with a simple caption that reads "UNIFIED," it shows a lack of racial, gender, and age diversity.
UNIFIED. pic.twitter.com/QqXrIClMtX [2]
— House Republicans (@HouseGOP) November 17, 2016 [3]
@HouseGOP [4] What is diversity? Who are millennials?
— Euna Park (@eunapark) November 17, 2016 [5]
The photo mirrors the current demographics of House Republicans. According to the House of Representatives, the Republican party currently has [6] 10 Latino, one Asian-American, two black, and 23 female representatives. For comparison, the Democratic party boasts 26 Latino, 11 Asian-American, 43 black, and 88 female representatives.
Pence's selfie is reminiscent of Speaker of the House Paul Ryan's photo with Republican house interns [7], which also went viral for showing a jarring lack of diversity in the party.