Republican Surprises Fellow House Members With Bizarre Gift

One Florida lawmaker’s grenade is another lawmaker’s present.

Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) gave out inert 40mm grenades complete with an elephant logo to fellow House members on Thursday after he was named to the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees. 

The grenades, Mills noted in a letter alongside the gift, were developed for the Vietnam War and manufactured in Florida.

Juan Ayala, a spokesperson for Mills, told The Washington Post that the grenades were inert and “were cleared through all security metrics.”

It’s unclear how many grenades the Trump-backed Republican handed out to fellow House members.

HuffPost attempted to reach out to Mills’ office for comment but the mailbox for a phone number associated with his office was full.

Mills’ gift comes weeks after Congress removed metal detectors installed outside the House floor in the wake of the deadly Jan. 6 attack.

The Florida lawmaker previously sparked backlash for his joke about last year’s hammer attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (R-Calif.).

Twitter users weighed in on Mills’ gift and joked that the grenades are inert “much like” the Republican-majority Congress.