House Democrat coughs through live interview

by Alicia M. Cohn - 12/06/12 1:31 PM ET

{mosads}Connolly, speaking to a local news station, struggled to answer questions about the “fiscal cliff” and the chance for both parties to reach an agreement on tax rates and spending cuts before Christmas — but not because he didn’t have answers to the questions.

He was given a glass of water, but there was just no soothing that tickle in his throat for most of the four-minute interview.

Ever have an itch in your throat make you cough uncontrollably? Yeah, just happened to me live on @wusa9. Still managed to talk #fiscalcliff

— Gerry Connolly (@GerryConnolly) December 6, 2012