Here is an interesting follow-up to the story of Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA), who live-tweeted a running commentary on last night’s State of the Union address that included such messages as, “Mr. President, you don’t believe in the Constitution. You believe in socialism.”
It turns out that right after the address, Broun put out an official statement — as if he hadn’t made his statement already — that wasn’t anywhere near as vitriolic.
Sure, the statement was strongly worded on the subject of the deficit, but it wasn’t anywhere near as harsh as the stuff Broun posted on Twitter. Broun tweeted a link to the press release earlier today, and I was shocked to see what I found there:
“The American people made it clear in November they expect Washington to change the culture of spending. It appears that the only thing President Obama has changed is his rhetoric. No matter how he tries to spin it, more spending has not and will not create jobs. The President’s proposal to freeze spending at record-high levels is unacceptable. The American people deserve to have elected officials who aren’t afraid to make the tough decisions and get things done.
“The formula for economic prosperity is simple: cut taxes, remove restrictions on job creators and stop spending. The House has taken the first several steps by repealing Obamcare and establishing a plan to reduce spending to pre-bailout, pre-stimulus levels. I would hope our President will join House Republicans as we work to build a more efficient and effective government and save our nation from more debt,” said Broun.
Compared to “Obama’s policies kill free-enterprise,” and the line about how Obama doesn’t believe in the Constitution but instead in socialism, that’s nothing. We could have seen any garden-variety Republican put out a statement like this one.
So I asked Broun spokesperson Debbee Keller: Did the Congressman make a specific decision to release a very different statement today? If so, was he asked to do so by the GOP leadership or others in the Republican caucus?
Keller wrote back to me: “Congressman Broun released his statement last night immediately after the President’s speech.”
And she at least appears to be right — Broun tweeted the link today, but the press release has yesterday’s date on it.
I wrote back, asking whether Broun stands by the tweets. I have not yet received a response.
