House Speaker Paul Ryan turned away by dozens of eighth graders on a class trip to D.C.

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Two hundred eighth-grade students from New Jersey’s South Orange Middle School took a class trip to Washington, D.C., last week.

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And when offered a chance to join a picture with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, about half of them said no.

ABC7 New York caught up with some of the 100 or so students who decided to stand out of the picture on the steps of the United States Capitol.

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Matthew Malespina, one student who sat out, called it “much more than a picture.” He objected to “being associated with a person who puts his party before his country,” and texted his mother to ask how to handle it. She recommended he say, politely, that he’d rather not. So he did.

“I’m just not going to do it,” he said.

When interviewed by New York’s FOX5, he said the same: “First thing I said was I can’t take a picture with him. I don’t want to.”

Malespina, evidently a go-to South Orange student for interviews, also told the Village Green, “I can’t take a picture with someone who supports a budget that would destroy public education and would leave 23 million people without healthcare.”

Plenty of students, however, felt just fine joining the Speaker of the House for a photograph, even if they didn’t agree with his agenda.

Student Alex Klint said it would be “interesting” to get close to “one of the nation’s lawmakers in person even if I strongly disagree with many of his views.”

Other students and parents had similarly nuanced stances, noting that while some of his policies are unpopular, Speaker Ryan might still be worth meeting.

What do you think?

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