Democratic Senator Brian Schatz (Hawaii) lambasted members of his own party Monday, especially House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), for misleadingly claiming in a fundraising email that special counsel Robert Mueller was fired.
Schatz took to Twitter to say he agreed with the sentiment, expressed by a reporter from Vice News, that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) needed to "stop sending out emails with fake news as the subject line." The senator further elaborated that his party needed to "convey a sense of urgency without being tricky" when it came to fundraising.
DCCC needs to stop sending out emails with fake news as the subject line pic.twitter.com/0E6cTeY6kX
— eve peyser (@evepeyser) April 16, 2018
Agree. We have to be able to convey a sense of urgency without being tricky. https://t.co/xfp4YbDRQa
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) April 16, 2018
The controversy arose Friday when the DCCC sent out a fundraising email, reportedly written by Pelosi, with the subject line "Mueller Fired." Although the email's body did clarify that President Donald Trump had not fired the special counsel, the implication of the subject line was enough to stir backlash.
Social media users were quick to point out the irony of the misleading subject line, especially coming from a party that has prided itself on forcefully combatting "fake news:"
The DCCC's subject lines may not have contributed to the fake news crisis, but damned if they help. https://t.co/qrM9JX9ccD
— Dara Lind (@DLind) April 13, 2018
so when i was getting my haircut on friday, my hairdresser asked me it was true that Mueller had gotten fired and I said, what? No! Why? And it was because of this email. https://t.co/v4u6egzLSn
— Kate Nocera (@KateNocera) April 16, 2018
Rumors have continued to persist that the president will fire Mueller, who is investigating the potential interference of Russia in the 2016 presidential election. President Trump has announced on numerous occasions, even as most recently as one day prior to the DCCC email, that he has no intention of firing the special counsel.
"If I wanted to fire Robert Mueller in December, as reported by the Failing New York Times, I would have fired him. Just more Fake News from a biased newspaper!" Trump tweeted last week.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/984371491277099010