The White House is using its official Twitter handle to make fun of hypocritical Democratic lawmakers who have criticized President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
The White House Twitter handle, which has more than 17.3 million followers, accused California Sen. Kamala Harris on Monday of “supporting the animals of MS-13,” a violent gang that the president has sought to eradicate.
.@SenKamalaHarris, why are you supporting the animals of MS-13? You must not know what ICE really does. Here is a link to help you out: https://t.co/kcrNj4aVMU
— The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) July 2, 2018
In a separate tweet, the White House account asserted Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren was “supporting criminals moving weapons, drugs, and victims” across the border.
.@SenWarren, why are you supporting criminals moving weapons, drugs, and victims across our nation’s borders? You must not know what ICE really does. Here is a link to help you out: https://t.co/5CiTKkIs4c
— The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) July 2, 2018
Watchdog groups said the use of the Twitter handle didn’t appear to violate any government laws but may represent a politicization of the social media accounts at a time when Republicans and Democrats are engaged in a vigorous debate over the nation’s immigration laws and the separation of migrant children from their families at the U.S.-Mexican border.
The White House Twitter account is separate from Trump’s personal account, which has more than 53 million followers and is used daily by the president. The White House account is similar to Trump’s official presidential account, @POTUS, and tweets from the three accounts are preserved under the Presidential Records Act.
In separate tweets on Tuesday, the @WhiteHouse account tweeted at Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, accusing him of supporting human smuggling, and Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, claiming he was protecting drug smugglers. The two lawmakers recently proposed legislation to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
.@repmarkpocan, are you supporting human smuggling? You must not know that ICE serves as the leading U.S. law enforcement agency responsible for the fight against it. Here is a link to help you out: https://t.co/Hc6QoHXTZH
— The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) July 3, 2018
The White House did not immediately respond to the lawmakers, but officials pointed to a June 2015 tweet issued by the White House account during President Barack Obama’s second term. The tweet was directed against the Twitter handle of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., taking issue with his characterization of the “Obamacare” law as a broken promise.
Government ethics experts said the White House tweets did not appear to be violations of the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activity on the job.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.