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On 16 July 2016, House Speaker Paul Ryan tweeted a photograph of himself and dozens of Capitol Hill interns to his Instagram page, bragged that it may have possibly broken a record for the most number of Capitol Hill interns in a single selfie: The tweet quickly gained traction online, but for a very different reason than the one Ryan touted: it seemingly documented that racial diversity among Republican interns on Capitol Hill was virtually non-existent: A few days after Ryan's image went viral, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas posted a photograph of a much more diverse-looking group of Democratic interns: The photographs are genuine, but the comparison is somewhat misleading due to the common assumption that Ryan's photograph shows only Republican interns: Paul Ryan's photograph was actually taken at an event for the 2016 Congressional Summer Intern Lecture Series, which is open to interns from both parties. While some speakers and events likely drew a greater share of Republican (or Democratic) interns than others, it's not accurate to classify this photograph as an image specifically showing all (or only) Republican interns. RJ Khalaf, an intern for Congressman André Carson (D-Ind.), said that the photograph is more indicative of the lack of diversity on Capitol Hill as a whole rather than among one party or the other: Khalaf elaborated on this point in an interview with South Bend television station WSJV: Information pertaining to the demographics of Capitol Hill interns is not readily available (we have reached out for more information), and efforts have been made to add diversity to the internship program. Democratic congresswoman Alma Adams, who co-sponsored a bill to improve diversity in workplaces like Capitol Hill, said that Ryan's photograph was proof that more had to be done:
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