Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) twin brother and campaign chair of Julian Castro, tweeted out a list of 44 individuals who donated to President Donald Trump’s campaign, accusing them of “fueling hate” against Hispanics.
Rep. Castro posted a tweet with names and employers of the San Antonio area donors on Monday evening, singling out two restaurants and a realtor and arguing “Their contributions are fueling a campaign of hate that labels Hispanic immigrants as ‘invaders’.”
Many Democrats, including Castro, have blamed Trump’s “rhetoric” for the Saturday shooting in El Paso, Texas, in which 22 people died and 24 more were injured. A rambling manifesto published online suggested the gunman acted out of anti-immigrant sentiment, but the authorities are still investigating the incident.
Also on rt.com How NOT to respond to shootings: Calls for political violence follow El Paso & DaytonWhile donations to a political campaign are public record, sitting members of Congress do not usually post the names and places of employment of their constituents – especially at a time when Democrats have made a habit of targeting conservatives with boycotts, deplatformings and death threats.
“Democrats want to talk about inciting violence? This naming of private citizens and their employers is reckless and irresponsible,” Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said in a statement, calling on the congressman to delete the tweet and his brother to disavow it. “He is endangering the safety of people he is supposed to be representing.”
Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who also called on Castro to retract the tweet, said that “elected representatives should not be vilifying and doxxing their own constituents.”
Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) called the tweet “grossly inappropriate,” and denounced the “win-at-all-costs mentality, publicly targeting an opponent’s supporters, and encouraging retaliation.”
Castro has stood by his tweet, however, saying the information was public record, did not contain addresses and phone numbers, and is no more than media outlets have reported. He also retweeted a liberal radio host who defended his position, saying that it was a “public service” to name and shame people “giving money to a campaign of white supremacy that is demonizing immigrants in ads as ‘invaders’ and inspiring mass murder.”
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