Republican Governor Greg Abbott of Texas faced backlash this month after reopening his state and lifting mask mandates, despite the pandemic that's killed over 500 thousand Americans.
As a result, he's been hailed by Republicans as a rebel against the so-called tyranny of public health guidelines, and for his immigration policies.
One such Republican heaping praise upon Abbott is Congressman Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, who posted a video lauding Abbott while also accusing Twitter of forbidding him from posting a tweet praising the Governor.
Watch below.
Big-Tech is actively censoring my GOVERNMENT account as we speak. They will not allow me to praise @GovAbbott for… https://t.co/Cud7UcJaky— Rep. Madison Cawthorn (@Rep. Madison Cawthorn) 1615237721.0
Cawthorn said in the video:
"I am praising one of our country's greatest Governors, Governor Abbott, because he has sent the National Guard of Texas down to the southern border where they should be ... I'm trying to send this tweet right now which just says, 'Governor Abbott exemplifies state leadership,' but as you see, something pops up right here that says, 'Something went wrong.'"
Cawthorn then went on to post a tweet that said 'Testing,' presenting it as proof that Twitter wouldn't allow him to post tweets specifically about Abbott from his government account.
He concluded:
"Big tech, let me ask you a question. Why are you so pro-illegal immigration and why are you so pro-censorship? It's disgusting."
Considering Cawthorn was able to post the video, it's unclear why he's convinced that a failure to tweet constitutes a conspiracy against him.
What's more, ProPublica indicates that Cawthorn's tweet actually did post, only to be deleted hours later.
And a tweet with the exact wording Cawthorn describes, posted hours before the video, is still up.
@GovAbbott exemplifies state leadership. If the Biden Admin wants to: ✔️Put kids in cages ✔️Let Illegal Immigra… https://t.co/oUq4BGKi4J— Rep. Madison Cawthorn (@Rep. Madison Cawthorn) 1615221757.0
People largely dismissed the claim.
@RepCawthorn @GovAbbott I’ll take ‘Things That Didn’t Happen’ for $800, Alex...— Ohcmon (@Ohcmon) 1615257181.0
@RepCawthorn @GovAbbott "I can't tweet!", he tweeted. 🙄— Ed Button (@Ed Button) 1615305689.0
@RepCawthorn @GovAbbott Oh sure, the largest and most dominant companies in the information technology industry in… https://t.co/UhhetvLkyW— Ross Bannister (@Ross Bannister) 1615240156.0
@RepCawthorn @GovAbbott he says, whilst posting on...big tech— Max Rottweiler (@Max Rottweiler) 1615273716.0
This is why the Republican Party is the laughing stock of the world.👇🏼 https://t.co/CYB6QpTZ3m— Mo Latno Bill Phelan (@Mo Latno Bill Phelan) 1615257283.0
@RepCawthorn @GovAbbott The sky is falling. The sky is falling— Crazy Old Man (@Crazy Old Man) 1615239934.0
It led some to wonder just what Cawthorn does when he's at work.
@RepCawthorn @GovAbbott So I called your office two minutes after you posted this video.Why were you not able to ta… https://t.co/9mLk1zHh2S— RonMcKernan (@RonMcKernan) 1615242833.0
@RepCawthorn @GovAbbott What does Representative Cawthorn do all day?— Science Matters (@Science Matters) 1615242473.0
@RepCawthorn @GovAbbott Are you working for #NC11....or better yet, ARE YOU WORKING AT ALL?!— 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐀𝐍 💛#𝚃𝚑𝚎𝙱𝚒𝚐𝙻𝚒𝚎𝙲𝚊𝚠𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚗 (@𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐀𝐍 💛#𝚃𝚑𝚎𝙱𝚒𝚐𝙻𝚒𝚎𝙲𝚊𝚠𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚗) 1615242219.0
Cawthorn hasn't acknowledged that the tweet was, in fact, posted.