In an appearance last night on Anderson Cooper 360, Rep. Paul Broun stood by the live-tweets that he made from his office during the State of the Union address — most notably the one that declared, “Mr. President, you don’t believe in the Constitution. You believe in socialism.” But not only that, he said there was nothing uncivil about it.
Substitute host Soledad O’Brien grilled Broun about the accuracy of the tweets. She also pointed out that poll data shows Americans have unfavorable views of both parties, and she speculated that people could be fed up with a lack of civility on Capitol Hill. “What’s your strategy for turning that around?” O’Brien asked. “Because with the tweets — not so civil — doesn’t sound like aiming for more civility is what your strategy’s gonna be.”
“Well, I think my tweets were civil,” said Broun. “I was just stating the truth, that this president has a socialistic type of philosophy and agenda. I believe that very firmly. And — and, so, it’s not uncivil. I was just stating the truth.
“And I think we can do — I think we can work together. And we should work together. I have worked with Democrats on many issues. And I will continue to do so.
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.