Lawmakers Marjorie Taylor Greene And Nancy Mace Present Open Hostility To One One other On Social Media

MEP Marjorie Taylor Green (Republican Georgia) expressed her dissatisfaction with MEP Nancy Mace (RSC). … [+]Twitter Tuesday, Photo by Alex Wong / Getty Image

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There have been many instances in American history where lawmakers became close friends even though they came from opposing parties. Tip from House Spokesman Ol’Neill and President Ronald Reagan were intimate. Even President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner could come to terms with their differences. George HW Bush’s close friend was President Bill Clinton. Bush is very close friends with President George W. Bush.

Tip O’Neill and Ronald Reagan would be friends on Facebook if they were alive today. However, this is not the case with most legislators.

CNN reported last week that many representatives feel they are in an increasingly toxic environment at work. This is characterized by bitter arguments and threats as well as fears about the loss of decency.

Just a few weeks ago, two Republicans and Democrats reprimanded MP Paul Gosar for sharing an animated social media video showing the death of MP Alexandria OcasioCortez.

Antisocial behavior

It is clear that lawmakers do not shrink from their mutual contempt. A number of exchanges took place between Republican MP Lauren Boebert, Colorado and Democratic MP Ilhanomar, Minnesota. After the two on the phone, which apparently only made matters worse – each used social media to call the other!

It’s not just political enemies of the same party who share their dirty laundry on social media. Two Republican lawmakers took to Twitter Tuesday to take out their frustrations on each other.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, a Republican from Georgia, expressed her dissatisfaction with Rep. Nancy Mace (RSC), who responded to Rep. Boebert’s hostile remarks against Rep. Omar. Greene accused Mace, instead of her Republicans, of partnering with Omar and the progressive Democrats.

“@NancyMace, the rubbish at the GOP conference. Never attacked by Democrats or RINOs (the same) for not being conservative but pro-abortion. Mace, you can retire from @laurenboebert or just hang out with your real pals, the Jihad Squad. Rep. Greene wrote, “You are out of your league” (@mtgreenee).

Rep. Mace fired back, “* you are. And while I am correcting you, I am a pro-life financial conservative who has been attacked by the left all weekend (as I often do) while I was defying China in Taiwan. The only thing I am is not a racist or a religious fanatic. It might be worth trying this out in your own little “league”.

Mace shared some brightly colored emojis that made her point clear.

Such hostility – even among those on the same side of the aisle – is likely to only get worse before it gets better. This should not be seen as a good thing for democracy.

Matthew J. Schmidt, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Political Science, National Security, and Political Science at Yale University.

It cheers your employees on. You can see the other side too. But you get clicked either way. Schmidt said there was a political purpose in getting attention this way, including when it comes to attacking someone within your party. This is a Machiavellian view of this behavior. This is a clear message to the world that those who violate the Code of Conduct can be viewed as immature children fighting online.

Schmidt found that most people have got used to it by now.

He suggested that, in his opinion, this “upsets the atmosphere for debate and makes us more cynical”. Cynicism is a democracy killer. If people want to manage themselves, they have to trust each other.