Congressman drowns out conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer with auctioneer skills at Twitter hearing

Republican congressman and experienced auctioneer Billy Long surprises crowd with routine

A congressman used his skills as an auctioneer to drown out a protester as she attempted to disrupt a house hearing.

Laura Loomer, a conspiracy theorist and far right activist, had attempted to interrupt the congressional testimony of Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey, who was due to answer allegations the platform displays bias against conservative voices.

Along with Facebook’s chief operation officer Sheryl Sandberg he has been attempting to assure politicians that they were capable of protecting November’s midterm elections from foreign interference.

As Mr Dorsey prepared to speak, Ms Loomer launched into a tirade against the tech billionaire from the audience.

“President Donald Trump help us, please help us Mr President before it is too late, because Jack Dorsey is trying to influence the election, to sway the election so that the Democrats can steal the election,” she can be heard to shout in video of the incident.

Unbeknown to many in the room, congressman Billy Long, whose website states his is a qualified auctioneer with more than 30 years’ experience, had an effective, if not unusual, technique up his sleeve to drown her out.

“What’s she saying? I can’t understand her, what?” the Republican representative from Missouri says before suddenly breaking into an auctioneer’s patter, quickly shouting a series of numbers.

As the committee's chairman Greg Walden calls for security, Ms Loomer continued to speak, but her shouting is muffled by Mr Long as he continues with his fast-paced chatter.

“I yield back,” he jokes as she is finally removed from the room.

Mr Walden then joked: "Somehow I think our auctioneer in residence is going to get tweeted about today."

Ms Loomer has previously been embroiled in several controversies, including an incident last year in which Uber and Lyft banned her from using their services after she publicly complained about a lack of “non-Muslim cab drivers” on the apps.