Rep. Dan Meuser got a lot of feedback on Tuesday regarding comments he made defending the recent controversial Trump tweets.
In fact, one comment he received on Facebook may have been a bit too threatening.
Other than that one comment, a lot of it was people giving the Congressman representing Schuylkill County the business over his comments Tuesday on HR 489, a House bill to condemn the President’s social media remarks.
Meuser said in a Facebook post prefacing the video: “I strongly oppose Democrat leadership’s latest effort to harass Donald J. Trump. For years, he and his supporters have been subjected to baseless attacks. Such slander is a disservice to our nation and the American people, and I am tired of it.”
Here are his full comments today:
The Allegedly Racist Trump Tweets
Meuser rose during the House debate on Tuesday on whether or not to condemn President Donald Trump for some tweets he made on Sunday. These are the tweets everyone fought about today rather than doing actual work. It started on July 14.
So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2019
….it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2019
In case the Twitter embed isn’t working, here’s the Tweet thread in its text:
So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done. These places need your help badly, you can’t leave fast enough. I’m sure that Nancy Pelosi would be very happy to quickly work out free travel arrangements!
Democrats drawing Trump’s ire in those tweets, along with their friends in the media, successfully convinced a lot of people these tweets are racist.
Well, they say, he’s constantly picking on “people of color” and this is just the latest example. But take a look at the people he didn’t mention by name that really got Trump going on Sunday. They spew toxicity on a daily basis and the media gives them an unchecked forum on which to do it.
For fear of being called racists themselves, they look the other way in some cases. But in most, they intentionally parade these people on TV, tell them they’re brave and encourage more. This leads to these 4 illustrious Congresswomen equating US immigration agents with guards at Nazi concentration camps. In fact, they try to equate anyone disagreeing with them with Nazis. They just compound this rhetoric against Trump on a daily basis.
Trump took to Twitter the next day and further explained why his tweets aren’t racist. And he continued to pummel away at the Congresswomen who have his ire.
….and the many terrible things they say about the United States must not be allowed to go unchallenged. If the Democrat Party wants to continue to condone such disgraceful behavior, then we look even more forward to seeing you at the ballot box in 2020!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 15, 2019
But wait … there’s more.
When will the Radical Left Congresswomen apologize to our Country, the people of Israel and even to the Office of the President, for the foul language they have used, and the terrible things they have said. So many people are angry at them & their horrible & disgusting actions!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 15, 2019
And then there’s this:
If Democrats want to unite around the foul language & racist hatred spewed from the mouths and actions of these very unpopular & unrepresentative Congresswomen, it will be interesting to see how it plays out. I can tell you that they have made Israel feel abandoned by the U.S.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 15, 2019
Meuser Defends Trump Tweets
The President went on but this was about Meuser, your Representative in Washington, standing up and defending the President and his word choice on Sunday.
“This ridiculous slander does a disservice to our nation,” he said, defending his constituents from similar vitriol they’ve likely received for supporting Trump on anything, let alone these tweets.
Meuser is often lucky to get a handful of reactions to his Facebook posts. But after posting a video of him defending Trump’s tweets. his engagement rate went up quite a bit. At last count, more than 300 people weighed in on Meuser’s comments Tuesday.
Some did tell Meuser they were happy he stood up to the mob and said the House shouldn’t be condemning the President for his so-called racist remarks.
That includes Lebanon County State Rep. Frank Ryan. He commented, “Dan I’m very proud of you,” after the Congressman posted the video.
“Are You Threatening Me?”
Others were not so happy. A lot of the comments leaned toward the negative. But most seemed to be from people who likely don’t even follow Meuser on a regular basis. They just found the video post as somewhere to echo the comments they read elsewhere that they believe make them the bigger person.
And it looks like one person on the angry left went too far in his comments. Here’s a screen grab before it’s deleted, including Meuser’s response:
Some comments weren’t as off the wall as that one.
One person blathered on in a comment: “As a Republican, I am embarrassed by Trump and all those who so blindly support him; not only has he strayed from so many Republican principles, he is entirely void of decency, ethics or morals. How could any informed person support his tweets? If Trump’s racism isn’t repugnant enough, consider how his tweet insulted our history as a nation of immigrants, or our freedom to voice opinions, even when they are unpopular. As president, he has the responsibility to set a good example, not act like a xenophobic bully. I wish we had Fitzpatrick; he was on the right side of history today.”
This person is talking about Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, 1 of 4 Republicans who eventually voted for this legislation. Fitzpatrick represents PA-1 in Washington.
Another person responded: “How dare you. How do you feel about your constituents of color? Especially those with views different than yours? Are we still a greater threat than ISIS? Shame on you.”
Someone’s anti-Trump commentary drew the appreciation of one person running for Tamaqua Area school board.
When one woman said, in part, “I know nobody will change their minds about who they intend to vote for but the GOP is a bunch of cowards and hypocrites for continuing to stand by a man who makes racist and misogynistic comments. He has ties to men who prey on children and was accused of rape by a 13 year old himself. Why any man would come forward and speak up for him is beyond me,” the candidate weighed in.
Justin David Startzel says, “His antics have gone to far! the silent will speak when election time comes. The wave is upon us.”
Canary on the Tweets and Meuser’s Take
First, Trump’s tweets still aren’t racist. You can repeat them, change the font, scream them from the roof … they’re not remotely racist. Congressman Meuser should be applauded for airing the unpopular opinion in the room. So many of his fellow Republicans stayed silent when asked about them.
Like Meuser says, the tweets aren’t racist.
Now, were the tweets kinda dumb? Maybe a little bit. Twitter’s kinda dumb a little bit. The platform is very effective for the President to communicate his message. It’s an effective platform for a lot of people and companies to communicate their message.
Meuser backed up his stance in follow-up comments to his video. He was clearly riding the high of a viral social media post and getting involved.
Someone who apparently knows him from the past said, “Come on Dan. Open your eyes. I’ve known you too long to accept that you think like this. Where has the real Dan gone??”
He got back to this person rather quickly, saying, “In all due respect open your eyes..Trump is regularly called every name in the book , their favorite a racist, as r all his supporters. I listen to their hate for our country every day, on the floor and committees. They do nothing but divide because their only plan is to give things for free for one purpose.. power… Impeach? For what because they didn’t win an election.. do U see the violence, the intolerance…I mean come on, the “squad “ called Pelosi a racist last week….we will talk.. these r all tactics on their part.. the country is doing well… do I condone many of Trumps tweets..? No of course not.. don’t let your dislike for the President blur the facts… I haven’t changed but we have to reasonably counter their constant slanders of the President… and by the way this isn’t new… to the media Reagan was a dottering old man, George H Bush a wimp, W a spoiled rich idiot… Romney a cruel out of touch rich guy… they have nothing to run on so they tear down… agreed was perhaps a thoughtless tweet… Obama deliberately lied regularly to sell Obamacare and other garbage and cover up the botched and deadly Benghazi… the Democratic Party in Washington is gone.. they r now extreme left/socialist .. please consider my points…talk soon.”
Meuser basically says that he’s not always a fan of every tweet. But sometimes you need to fight fire with fire.
And he’s right. If the MAGA side of the GOP shows any give against this constant mob attack on all fronts, they’ll take advantage of it. They don’t want to compromise.
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