Alicia Keys Makes Valentine's Day Pitch to House Speaker Paul Ryan
The singer wants the House to tackle criminal justice reform this year.
— -- This Valentine's Day, there's no one for Alicia Keys but House Speaker Paul Ryan.
The R&B singer and songwriter released a steamy video message to the 46-year-old House speaker earlier this week, promising to be his Valentine in exchange for a vote on criminal justice reform in the House this year.
"I recently saw a picture of you working out, and I was like, 'Mmmmm,'" she says in the video. "I never saw the speaker of the House working out before. He must be cool."
Keys asks Ryan to "show me how cool you are" and "help me spread some love" by bringing criminal justice reform measures to a vote before President Obama leaves office.
"Can you do that Paul? I know you can," Keys coos.
Keys then shows her Valentine's Day card for Ryan ("You Have a Heart of Gold," it reads) and calls on supporters to send the Wisconsin Republican cards of their own through the website "We Are Here Movement," a social justice group she founded in 2014.
"Help bring justice reform to a vote so we can keep families together and reunite those that have been torn apart by excessive incarceration instead of just getting the help they needed," she continues.
Asked about the video in a Fox News interview Wednesday, Ryan said he was surprised Alicia Keys knew who he was.
In a news conference Thursday, he said he supports a series of bipartisan criminal justice reform bills that have passed through the House Judiciary Committee, but didn't have a timetable for their vote on the floor.
A spokesperson for Ryan's office did not say whether Ryan's office had received any cards from Keys or her group.