Washington Free Beacon editor-in-chief Matthew Continetti argued that Rep. Joaquin Castro's (D., Texas) decision to post the names of supporters of President Donald Trump "crossed a line" and provides Trump supporters with only one way to support the president: the ballot box during a panel on Fox News's Special Report.
Castro defended his decision by saying that the graphic was already public information and circulating online. Morning Joe co-host Willie Geist pointed out that there were 11 retirees and one homemaker who were not public, and asked Castro how he would respond to someone harassing a Trump supporter.
"What I want is for people to think twice about supporting a guy who is fueling hate in this country," Castro said. "I don't want anybody on the left or the right to be a target of any crazy person, of any person who means them harm at all," he added.
"Is this out of bounds, this idea of donor-shaming?" Fox News host John Roberts asked Continetti.
"It crosses a line," Continetti said. "It's silly and stupid on several levels, one of which is several of these donors had given to Joaquin Castro, so he's outing his own donors. I don't think they're going to be giving again."
"The other thing is there is clearly an effort to intimidate Trump supporters either by labeling them white supremacists or by naming and shaming. What this does is it forces Trump supporters to have only one way they can express their support for him and that is through the privacy of the ballot box. If you thought we had shy Trumpers in 2016, wait until 2020. There are a lot of people who will not admit they support the president until election day 2020."