For at least the second time this year, Twitter has led to the downfall of another aide expected to play a key role in a 2016 presidential campaign.
Liz Mair, who was set to lead online communications for Gov. Scott Walker’s anticipated presidential campaign, resigned from Walker’s political operation late Tuesday after taking fire from Iowa Republicans for tweets criticizing the crucial first caucus state, a Walkers spokeswoman confirmed. Her resignation came just a day after CNN first reported her hire with Walker’s Our American Revival.
“We accept those who have a variety of viewpoints on issues but what we ultimately must have is absolute respect for people across the country. Our American Revival is an organization formed to promote bold reforms across the country and we’re going to continue advocating for those ideals,” top Walker strategist Rick Wiley said in a statement.
Mair’s downfall came just a month after Ethan Czahor resigned from former Gov. Jeb Bush’s political operation over a series of offensive tweets he posted going back several years. Czahor was expected to serve as the chief technology officer for Bush’s campaign.
Mair stepped down late Tuesday, just hours after the state’s GOP chairman Jeff Kaufmann said Walker should fire Mair — just one of a series of Iowa Republicans who slammed Mair.
The source of the outrage was a series of tweets Mair sent criticizing the state that is a crucial first test for any presidential hopeful.
“In other news, I see Iowa is once again embarrassing itself, and the GOP, this morning. Thanks, guys,” Mair tweeted in January during the first Iowa cattle call for potential 2016 candidates.
“The sooner we remove Iowa’s frontrunning status, the better off American politics and policy will be,” she tweeted a minute later.
Mair also used the hashtag “#brainless” in a tweet criticizing agricultural subsidies vital to Iowa’s economy.
In a statement, Mair acknowledged “the tone of some of my tweets concerning Iowa was at odds with that which Gov. Walker has always encouraged in political discourse.
“I wish Gov. Walker and his team all the best,” she said in the statement.
Mair also took heat from conservative media for her support of immigration reform and her criticism of conservative Iowa congressman Rep. Steve King — among the most fervent opponents of immigration reform.
Naturally, after Mair stepped down from Walker’s campaign-in-waiting, she took to Twitter.
“Now that I’m off payroll, there are a few things I’d like to say,” Mair began tweeting.
“1. The “morons” I was referring to in that 1 tweet were Ds who were feigning surprise at an Iowa family having benefited from farm subsidies,” she tweeted.
She also stood by her criticism of King:
“I do find some of the things Steve King says on immigration embarrassing and factually dubious,” she wrote.
“I also think the fact that King is held out as the only real force in Iowa and representative of what Iowans think is embarassing (sic) for Iowa,” she tweeted.
But also a bit of mea culpa:
“I was however wrong to implicitly buy into that notion with a couple of quick-fire, snarky tweets,” she conceded.
“Obviously, there are Iowans who disagree w King, including the very many who prefer Mike Lee’s rhetoric and tone on immigration,” she wrote.
“For my part, yes, I’ll try to rein in the snark. I suspect, tho, that for some, that won’t be enough bc some don’t want to discuss policy.”
