In addition to major news organizations, these misleading tweets arrived from state and even federal legislators eager to get the word out. Among federal leaders, Republican Reps. Aaron Schock, Tom Rooney, Dennis Ross, Virginia Foxx, Darrell Issa, and Buck McKeon all excitedly tweeted around 10:15 that the Supreme Court had made a victory for freedom by ruling the individual mandate unconstitutional.
All of the incorrect tweets were deleted after just a few minutes. Florida Rep. Dennis Ross, for example, tweeted “Individual Mandate ruled unconstitutional. Let Freedom Ring,” before deleting the post after two minutes and replacing it with, “Truly disappointed in Justice Roberts and others who allowed this assault on the Republic stand.”
Part of the confusion may have arisen from the way the ruling was initially presented. Since Chief Justice Roberts ruled that the mandate could only remain as a tax, it could have initially been unclear whether the mandate did indeed remain intact.
That said, the misleading reports were doubtless confusing to constituents following their representatives – or broadcast news – and certainly impacted their credibility. As Crooks and Liars’ Tina Dupuy tweeted, “CNN: Dewey Defeats Truman!”
