Senator’s on-air interview features carpooling colleague waving from back seat

Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo) crashed his colleague Sen. Michael Bennet’s (D-Colo.) interview on NBC’s “Meet The Press” on Friday as the pair carpooled to the airport after voting for a commission to probe the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

As host Chuck Todd introduced Bennet to address whether he would vote to get rid of the filibuster, the senator interrupted him with a disclosure that he was not alone.

“Chuck, I’m not by myself because this is a carpool,” Bennet said while pointing to the back seat of the vehicle. “John Hickenlooper is back there.”

“There he his,” Bennet said as Hickenlooper leaned out from behind his seat and waved.

“All right, so we have a caucus of two,” Todd responded with a laugh. “Hello, Sen. Hickenlooper.”

WATCH: @chucktodd asks @SenatorBennet with a cameo from @SenatorHick if they are going to vote to get rid of the filibuster. #MTPDaily

Sen. Bennet: “I can’t speak for John. … I think we should not perpetuate McConnell’s bastardization of the Senate filibuster.” pic.twitter.com/HLUed5W9UM

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) May 28, 2021

The “Meet The Press” host asked both men if “there are two votes to get rid of the filibuster in that carpool right now?”

“I can’t speak for John, but I can speak for myself. The country can’t continue to endure another period of obstruction like the one that [Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell robbed when Barack Obama was president of the United States. There is too much for us to do with respect to building an economy that works for everybody. Not just people at the very top,” Bennet said. “I think we should not perpetuate McConnell’s bastardization of the Senate filibuster.”

A fight over the filibuster was revived in the Senate over the push to create a commission to probe the Jan. 6 attack, with many lawmakers expressing frustration over the procedural roadblock. 

“Filibustering a bipartisan commission regarding the January 6 insurrection is a three dimensional way to make the point that the filibuster is primarily a destructive force in American politics,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said on Tuesday.