Things got pretty awkward between Reps. Janice Hahn and Laura Richardson during a news conference held this morning at the Port of Los Angeles.
The pair made painfully obvious attempts to avoid making eye contact or speaking with each other during the 45-minute presser, where U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk discussed a pending free trade agreement with South Korea, Panama and Colombia.
Additionally, both women stood at opposite ends of the podium as Kirk spoke, buffered by several executives and commissioners from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
They even left the event at separate times.
Hahn and Richardson may be avoiding each other because they will duke it out next year for a new congressional district that was approved Monday by an independent citizens panel.
For now, the pair are congressional neighbors and have been known to be chummy in the past. During Hahn's run for Congress, the two women had their arms draped around each other and happily chatted during another news conference held at the port on April 25.
This time around, you could cut the tension with a knife.
