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March 19th, 2024

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After a week of Twitter spats, the Dem caucus does some soul searching

Paul Kane

By Paul Kane The Washington Post

Published March 11, 2019

After a week of Twitter spats, the Dem caucus does some soul searching
WASHINGTON - The room was reaching a boiling point Wednesday as Democrats bickered over how to word a resolution condemning hate. Finally, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., got the microphone and issued a plea.

"Everyone stop tweeting," Schakowsky said at the caucus meeting.

The next day, Schakowsky explained her comment wasn't meant to be literal - she is fine with the social media platform. But the lawmaker had become alarmed at how often colleagues were using social media to criticize fellow Democrats.

Democratic leaders are trying to coach the rank and file, particularly the freshmen, to embrace Schakowsky's sentiment.

"My goodness, I don't want the disagreements I have in my family to be in public," House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., said Friday. "This is a family."

In recent weeks, the so-called Democratic family has been fighting in the open, particularly on Twitter. It has helped fuel stories of a divided caucus.

Last weekend, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., attacked a "small splinter group" of Democrats who voted with Republicans on an amendment to Democrats' gun control legislation.

"If you're mad that I think people SHOULD KNOW when Dems vote to expand ICE powers, then be mad." she tweeted, in response to reports that she threatened to share the list of amendment supporters with liberal activists.

It was one of more than six tweets she sent criticizing Democrats that day. She cited several alleged abuses by border agents because the amendment would require reporting undocumented immigrants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement if they failed a background check.

"Having a D next to your name doesn't make that right," the first-term liberal star wrote.


That afternoon, Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., the chairwoman of the powerful Appropriations Committee, accused Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., of making "hurtful" anti-Semitic comments about Jewish American support for Israel.

"I am saddened that Rep. Omar continues to mischaracterize support for Israel," Lowey, a 26-year veteran of Congress, tweeted about the 37-year-old newcomer.

The two had not spoken about Omar's comments beforehand. The freshman was traveling in Africa, but she took to Twitter to fire off seven response tweets to her 700,000 followers.

"Our democracy is built on debate, Congresswoman! I should not be expected to have allegiance/pledge support to a foreign country," Omar tweeted.

Late Sunday night, after Rep. Juan Vargas, D-Calif., tweeted that Omar perpetuated "hurtful anti-Semitic stereotypes." Ocasio-Cortez responded with a trio of tweets to her 3.4 million followers criticizing the fourth-term Democrat's unwavering loyalty to Israel.

All of this has set the stage for heated caucus meetings about how to handle a resolution that, as originally drafted, would have only condemned anti-Semitism. Pelosi's leadership team could not tamp down the divisions in the caucus, there for all to see on Twitter.

When Democrats finally emerged from another closed-door huddle Thursday, they had rallied around a broadly worded resolution opposing most forms of hate, from anti-Semitism to homophobia. On Friday, the caucus unanimously voted for it.

The week of friction has led to some soul searching, as Democrats realized airing their laundry in public only helps Republicans.

"I do think it is interesting to see how some incidents, I think, can be weaponized to target the caucus and that it's pretty surgical in the way that it's done," Ocasio-Cortez said. "So I'm kind of learning about those dynamics."

From Wednesday through Friday, Ocasio-Cortez focused almost all of her tweet fire on Republicans and conservative activists, calling out the 23 GOP lawmakers who voted against the anti-hate resolution.

When she talked about fellow Democrats, Ocasio-Cortez offered only praise, even giving a "shout out" to Rep. Joe Cunningham, D-S.C., for his questioning of a Trump administration official on climate change.

A week earlier, Cunningham was one of the 26 Democrats on Ocasio-Cortez's "list" for voting with Republicans.

Schakowsky has encouraged Democrats to talk to one another before publicly criticizing their positions. Almost a quarter of the caucus are in their first term, barely two months into office. Many angry Twitter exchanges are occurring between lawmakers who hardly know each other.

Some veteran Democrats barely know the first and last names of the freshmen, let alone anything about their backgrounds.

Omar and Lowey, for example, had never met when they engaged in their Twitter dispute. The two Democrats did meet in person a few days ago to discuss the issues, according to those familiar with the meeting.

Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said he has been organizing small dinner parties with several freshmen, just so the fifth-term lawmaker can get to know them.

"The more we get to do anything where we learn other people's life experiences, I think it adds," Richmond said.

Most members of Congress rely on their staff to run their social media accounts. But lawmakers that tweet themselves often have more flare, drawing more attention and followers.

But Twitter, with its 280 character-per-tweet limit, often brings out the sharper edges.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, a freshman, is among the most prolific Republicans on Twitter. He frequently engages his counterparts on Twitter, even as he's still learning who they are.

"In a sense, it's our job. Our job is to refute each other publicly," Crenshaw said Friday, explaining he focuses on "ideas" and policy. "What I don't do is attack the character of the people."

In one memorable jab at Ocasio-Cortez, Crenshaw tweeted that he couldn't care less about the videos of her dancing while in college, but he did critique her idea of a 70 percent tax on income over $10 million.

"Take stabs at those ideas, but try to be respectful of each other," he said.

Democratic leaders do not want to stifle their rank and file from using social media. They say they just want everyone to think about the ramifications of each post before hitting the send button.

"My whole thing is, if you're going to tweet, think about it and decide whether or not this tweet will cause headway or a headline," Clyburn said. "And if you want the headline, you'd better be careful. All headlines are not good."

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Previously:

03/07/19: Dem divide over toxic Muslim pol's remarks tests Pelosi's ability to unify caucus
03/04/19: House Dems struggle to break through when it's all Trump, all the time
03/01/19: Cummings and Meadows have almost nothing in common --- except a friendship
02/22/19: Dems now searching for candidates with a fresh face and interesting backgrounds that are short on legislative voting records
02/11/19: Pelosi and Dingell rivalry reflects the evolution of the Dem Party
01/07/19: Why Congress isn't feeling the pressure for a fast deal to end the shutdown --- yet
11/19/18: DEMS DEUX? Donkeys' reckoning, gamble
11/06/18: If Dems seize House, expect creation of political whiplash, more division
10/23/18: Regardless of who wins the House, massive turnover is ahead
10/19/18: Republican candidates rely on stealth campaigner George W. Bush
10/04/18: The Senate's two faces: A day marked by bipartisan achievements and character attacks
07/02/18: Plenty of drama is coming on Supreme Court nominee --- but not in Senate questioning
06/28/18: Powerful Dem's loss divides, stuns about the future of party leadership
06/27/18: Crowley's loss leaves gaping void for next generation of Dem leaders
03/22/18: How Senate Republicans could cause trouble for Trump's latest Cabinet nominees
02/06/18: Paul Ryan's defense of FBI sets him apart from loudest voices within GOP
12/02/17: If Cotton moves to the CIA, it would say a lot about how the GOP star views his party's future
11/02/17: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell finally has something to brag about: Conservative judicial appointments
08/29/17: In the Year of the Deciding Vote, one Dem's corruption trial could change the Senate --- or not
08/28/17: President is distancing himself from Hill GOPers to inoculate himself from blame for midterm losses. He may be helping Dems take the House
07/27/17: GOP senators warn Trump that getting rid of Sessions would be terrible move
05/30/17: Rahm Emanuel on Dem problems: 'You're not going to solve it in 2018'
05/29/17: Sen. Lindsey Graham: Comey needs to be 'held accountable' over Clinton investigation decisions
05/29/17: Montana election proves liberal outrage isn't enough
03/22/17: Gorsuch steals Dems' line of attack
02/27/17: 'All politics is local'? Not any more
02/01/17: Fight over Supreme Court nominee could forever change the nature of ... the Senate
01/23/17: A possible cushion for Trump's Cabinet nominees: Dems with elections in 2018
01/12/17: Trump outsmarts Dems and their media sycophants yet again
01/11/17: Rubio is the man to watch in Tillerson's confirmation hearing
11/08/16: Sometimes even the best Senate candidates can't win
07/14/16: The likely end of vice presidents as congressional emissaries
05/02/16: Is the 2016 election about to change again? Dem Schumer, a one-man super PAC?
03/31/16: And now for some good newsCan Trump become so unpopular that Dems take back the House?

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