A History of Controversial Tweets by Political Figures

Loose tweets sink fleets.

Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Loose tweets sink fleets. This is something politial figures in our country have had to learn as Twitter has become an important and expected tool for politicians and political figures to use. Twitter can really be a great asset for these people, if they use it right. Maybe it's the generational divide, but a lot of these people have failed to get up to speed on how to properly voice their opinions via the 140 character message, and they can completely derail their reputations with a single tweet. Sadly, pressing the delete button can't fix their mistakes, because the Internet never forgets. With Election Day 2013 going down on Tuesday for the mayoral race in NYC, here's a History of Controversial Tweets by Political Figures.

Muslims, Pls "Refudiate"

Sarah Palin came onto the scene with some controversy back in 2008 as the VP nomination for John McCain. Her extremely conservative views, along with her awkward attempts at trying to come off as relatable, made her the point of a ton of jokes for the past five years. One of her humorous moments came when she tweeted out, “Ground Zero Mosque supporters, doesn’t it stab you in the heart as it does our throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, please refudiate.”

Refudiate isn't a word. People called her out on it, and she tried saying that she mixed up the "f" and the "p" in repudiate, even though those keys are far from each other on the keyboard. She then tried comparing herelf to Shakespeare, saying that he invented words all the time. He did, but he did so on purpose. Refudiate was then voted word of the year for 2010.

Rep. Billy Long

Are you really surprised that a politician who probably never listened to Amy Winehouse compared her death to problems in Washington? If you have to go out on a stretch that deep to make your point, you probably need to rethink what you're trying to say. Or, better yet, actually do something about it, and leave the dead out of it.

@NatSecWonk

@NatSecWonk was, until a few weeks ago, an anonymous Twitter account that tweeted questions about the United States' involvement in the Benghazi attacks, and questioned high-ranking politicians. The government began investigating, and found out it was 40-year-old White House senior official Jofi Joseph, was a director of nuclear non-proliferation who had been involved with a team that was working on negotiations with Iran. He was terminated a short time after he was uncovered.

Dane Deutsch

"Hitler and Lincoln were both strong leaders. Lincoln's character made him the greater leader whose legacy and leadership still lives on!"

Word to the wise: don't compare Hitler to just anyone. Compare him to Stalin and Mao, but every other attempt is not going to come off the way you imagined it. Back in 2010, Wisconsin Republican state Senate candidate Dane Deutsch tweeted the above, and got blasted by Democrats for saying Hitler was a "strong" leader, rather than devious, psychopathic, or evil. Whether he was misunderstood or not, he just gave his opponents ammo to fire back at him with.

John McCain

John McCain is a bad ass. Let's just get that out of the way. Yes, he might not be as great of a politician as he is a war hero, but he does deserve respect. Now, this tweet wasn't the best thing he could have said for the situation. When Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he was willing to be the first Iranian in space, McCain tweeted this out, comparing the president to a monkey. Not the type of thing someone who thought he could be president should be saying.

Ron Paul

When former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle was shot by a veteran who suffered from PTSD earlier this year at a shooting range, Ron Paul took to Twitter to speak out: “Chris Kyle’s death seems to confirm that ‘he who lives by the sword dies by the sword.’ Treating PTSD at a firing range doesn’t make sense.” Paul was praised for drawing attention to a very serious mental illness, but was criticized by military personel and families for the use of ‘he who lives by the sword dies by the sword', which seemed to use Kyle's death to make a political point—since Paul has been very outspoken about his disagreement of the United States' use of the military.

@ComfortablySmug

When Superstorm Sandy hit NYC late last year, the Twitter account @ComfortablySmug, began tweeting out false information about flooding in the area, that soon started to get picked up and retweeted. BuzzFeed took it upon themselves to investigate, and found out that the man behind the account was 29-year-old Shashank Tripathi, the campaign manager of Christopher R. Wight, last year’s Republican candidate for the U.S. House from New York’s 12th Congressional District. It's a strange thing. That's like calling out "fire!" in a crowded theatre—just chaos for the sake of chaos. Tripathi didn't hold on to his campaign position much longer after that.

Mike Parry

There's not really a way to get around this one. Minnesota State Senate candidate Mike Parry tweeted this mess out back in 2010, and then tried to defend it. Really.

"My opinion is that our president is arrogant and angry. The fact is that he is a black man," he said. "Now if the Democratic Party and the liberals want to take my opinion and the fact and mix it together and use it to bring a bad light about me and keep them away from discussing the real issues they can do that all they want. They're grasping for straws." He's just Sarah Palin in a man suit.

From Russia, With Racism

Russian lawmaker Irina Rodnina tweeted a photoshopped picture of Barack and Michelle Obama with a banana in front of them. The obvious racism there didn't hit Rodnina at all, and she tried defending herself by saying she was practicing her freedom of speech. The US ambassador to Russia responded on Twitter saying Rodnina was guilty of "outrageous behaviour, which only brings shame to her parliament and country."

Anthony Weiner's Weiner

If Elvis is the King of Rock and Roll, and Michael Jackson the King of Pop, Anthony Weiner is the King of Twitter F-ck Ups. His crotch tweet ended his political career, and haunted him even when he tried to make a comeback. The thing we can all learn about this? Check to make sure your DM is being sent as a DM, and don't sext when you have a freakin' wife.