Sen. Chuck Grassley is probably among the most inept Twitter users on Earth.
From multi-tweet diatribes against the History Channel to pontificating in the form of single consonants (“P,” the senator from Iowa tweeted on Saturday), Grassley provides a lesson in how to reach viral fame through sheer, unrivaled incompetence. Now, in an interview with the LegalTimes, Grassley shares the secrets behind his legendary Twitter problem.
It turns out his motivations may be pure, even if his execution is confounding.
“I’m committed to making representative government work,” Grassley told the LegalTimes through a spokesperson. “Twitter’s a new way to communicate with constituents. The real-time feedback and contact with the grassroots that Twitter offers is a real value.”
But why is his tweeting so terrible? And does he pay attention to reactions?
“I think there are a couple of factors involved. I suppose a lot has to do with the automatic correcting done by my iPhone. Second, I love Tweeting, but I don’t like to type. So, I probably type and hit send a little too quickly. Sure, I pay attention to reactions to my Tweets. That’s part of the purpose, it’s the two-way communication needed in representative government at work.”
If that’s true, we can assume the senator noticed this tweet from Twitter user @delrayser: “Apparently, @ChuckGrassley's iPhone is the only one in the world with an autocorrect programmed by an 8th grader.”