Republican lawmakers looking to oppose President Donald Trump’s executive order cutting off immigration – including for greencard and visa holders – from seven countries he says foster international terrorism, turned to social media to voice their concerns, rather than to traditional media outlets.
Rep. Justin Amash was the first out of the gate Saturday, with an extensive Facebook post covering the Executive Order’s impact on Constitutional separation of powers.
Amash noted that the EO “overreaches and undermines our constitutional system. He argued that it’s not lawful to ban immigrants on the basis of nationality, and encouraged the President to “work with Congress” to change immigration law.
Sen. Ben Sasse took to Twitter to voice his concerns.
Sens. Todd Young and Susan Collins also released statements.
Sen. Jeff Flake took to the open-source blogging platform Medium.com to release his statement, calling for a more “clear-eyed view” on how immigration and terrorism are related.
The tactic of using digital means to communicate may be a two-fold strategy. It made contact with constituents and media consumers more efficient, particularly as protests dominated mainstream media coverage.
It also could make communicating with the White House easier for Republicans on the outside of Trump’s sphere of influence. The President is known as a heavy media consumer himself, and his aides have, in the past, used television, print media, and social media to send a message.
Some more prominent Republicans, however, have either been silent on or supportive of Trump’s temporary immigration ban. Rep. Paul Ryan came out in support of the executive order Saturday afternoon, but Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has yet to make a statement.
