Republican Senator John Cornyn started his week by getting roasted for complaining that President Joe Biden isn’t tweeting enough. On Monday morning, Cornyn fired off a thread that outright wondered if Biden isn’t “really in charge” because, unlike Trump, he doesn’t spend his entire day tweeting. (Naturally, this is a suggestion point that Trump trotted out recently.) Cornyn’s thread also parroted the predominantly right-wing criticism that Biden isn’t engaging enough with the media despite his Press Secretary Jen Psaki holding daily briefings that have been lauded for openness and transparency. Via his Twitter (which matches an excerpt from a Politico piece, word-for-word, and Cornyn lifted the excerpt out-of-context):
The president is not doing cable news interviews. Tweets from his account are limited and, when they come, unimaginably conventional. The public comments are largely scripted. Biden has opted for fewer sit down interviews with mainstream outlets and reporters. Invites the question: is he really in charge?
Invites the question: is he really in charge?
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) April 12, 2021
After suggesting that Biden should be tweeting more, Cornyn’s replies were filled up with people pointing out that the president doesn’t have time to tweet because he’s actually doing his job. Turns out it’s easier to end a pandemic when you’re doing things like facilitating vaccine distribution instead of screaming in all-caps about Fox News’ ratings.
You’re actually criticizing him for not ranting and taunting people on Twitter???
— That’s HEDLEY! (@HedleyLamarr23) April 12, 2021
Imagine being so fucking stupid you think a president behaving competently is actually a problem.
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@TheRealHoarse) April 12, 2021
Lord have mercy. You would think you would lauding Biden for this. So you are criticizing him for actually spending time on his actual job? Maybe you could consider doing that.
— Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) April 12, 2021
This is normal for a president that is actually working.
Also, his approval rating is over 60%.
— Travis Akers (@travisakers) April 12, 2021
The
President
— Max Kennerly (@MaxKennerly) April 12, 2021
Cornyn’s thread was also ironic given his prior approach to Trump’s tweets, which was to pretend he didn’t know about them:
Cornyn: I have opinions about the infrequency and dullness of Biden’s twitter feed which shows a lack of presidential leadership.
Also Cornyn: I did not see any Trump tweets and you can’t make me talk about them. pic.twitter.com/tl5hiCxbGX— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn) April 12, 2021
And then there’s the issue that the bulk of Cornyn’s thread was seemingly copy and pasted from Politico with no attribution or quotation marks whatsoever. This is grade school stuff, senator.
So apparently this is just a word-for-word quote from the very beginning of the article which—to be fair to the writer of the article—is not intended to be a criticism, just an observation.
Cornyn, of course, spins it into a vile criticism about Biden’s mental accuity.
— Pé (@4everNeverTrump) April 12, 2021