Pennsylvania Rep. Susan Wild, one of the most vulnerable House Democrats up for reelection, has locked down her Facebook account after catching flack for baselessly claiming a military veteran in her district was an anti-LGBT bigot.
The drama started after Wild commented on a friend’s post displaying the gay pride flag and relayed her recent interaction with a veteran. "I suspect that the vet who refused to shake my hand today at a Memorial Day event would not approve of your second flag," Wild said. It is unclear why Wild, who is heterosexual, would make this assumption.
Wild’s Republican opponent Ryan Mackenzie caught wind of the post and accused the incumbent Democrat of making "offensive comments against a local veteran." In response, Wild closed off her Facebook account to outsiders. In a post announcing her decision and shared with the Washington Free Beacon, Wild lamented that one of her friends "managed to turn even the most innocuous comments into a divisive political post."
"I just can’t deal with the sleaziness," the lawmaker wrote. "Yes, that’s you Ryan Mackenzie I’m talking about." She went on to pledge to block the 51 mutual "friends" she shares with Mackenzie, suggesting one of them leaked her comment. "Sad and pathetic," Wild wrote before quoting Maya Angelou.
Wild’s remarks come as she faces a tough reelection fight against Mackenzie, a member of the Pennsylvania legislature. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee includes Wild in its "frontline program," reserved for the party’s most vulnerable incumbents.
It’s the latest example of what Republicans say is Wild’s disparaging comments towards constituents in the seventh district. She apologized in February after she said in a Zoom call she was "dismayed" that Carbon County had been added to her district because residents there "drank the Trump Kool-Aid."
Facebook is not the only social media app Wild has been known to use. The Democrat came under fire in 2022 for Zooming into a virtual campaign event while driving her car.