Valley Congressman Tim Ryan chuckled when 21 News anchor Derek Steyer asked him about not placing his hand over his heart during the playing of the National Anthem before the start of Tuesday's night's presidential debate.

As the debate was about to begin, Ryan stood out from the other nine candidates, all of whom put their right hand over their heart during the Anthem.

No one asked Ryan about it during the debate, but Steyer caught up with Ryan afterward, telling the congressman that the omission was trending on Twitter.

After chuckling, Ryan responded, “I love this country as much as everybody else. I've been having the National Anthem played at football games. I put my hand on my heart for the Pledge of Allegiance the choir was singing, and it was great.”

Ryan got Twitter reaction from former George Bush press secretary and Fox News contributor Ari Fleischer who wrote, “I guess he's appealing to the Kaepernick wing of the Democratic Party.”

Co-host of “The View” and ABC News contributor Meghan McCain also chided Ryan for not putting his hand over his heart during the Anthem. “Put your hand over your heart for the star spangled banner Tim Ryan!!!” tweeted McCain.

When Melania Trump had to prompt the President to put his hand on his chest during the playing of the Anthem during a 2017 White House Easter egg roll, The View devoted a couple of minutes of discussion to the incident.