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Dem Sen. Claire McCaskill Falls For Fake Congressman’s Twitter Account – Still Manages To Blame Conservatives For Her Mistake
Ill-advised social media posts are hardly new within the political arena; nor are they limited to either side of the aisle. When one prominent Missouri Democrat was called out for her recent Twitter flub, however, it was her excuse that earned her even more criticism.
As with many Internet-based errors, Sen. Claire McCaskill apparently fell for the incendiary response of a parody Twitter account. After posting an image of a birthday cake she recently picked up for her “brother and brother-in-law,” a user claiming to be Rep. Steve Smith reacted.
Before checking out Smith’s profile, which describes him as a “Tea Party Patriot” and “Republican Representative of Georgia’s 15th Congressional District,” McCaskill shot back with her own retort.
She might have saved herself some subsequent embarrassment had she checked Georgia’s district map — the state has just 14 — or read any of the articles exposing Smith’s account as a hoax. Despite the backlash that followed, however, McCaskill refused to accept the blame for her impetuous post.
Instead, she implied that it is impossible to tell which Republicans are real and which are fake given the ostensible extremism of the party.
Reaction to the post above was harsher and even more widespread than the initial criticism.
“The joke’s not on you,” one Twitter user concluded. “You are the joke.”
As Western Journalism reported in 2013, CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour presented a post by the fictional congressman as part of a news story.
Was Sen. McCaskill justified in blaming her error on the GOP? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
This post originally appeared on Western Journalism – Equipping You With The Truth
Source: http://www.westernjournalism.com/dem-sen-claire-mccaskill-falls-for-fake-congressmans-twitter-account-still-manages-to-blame-conservatives-for-her-mistake/
