IA-01: Blum doxed reporter after question about links to racist Facebook group

Republican Congressman Rod Blum, who is facing a tough battle from Democrats in Iowa’s 1st House District in the upcoming midterms, has shown once again his failure to comprehend the duties of being a public servant.

Blum is the guy who last year abruptly walked out of an interview with local TV news station KCRG after a reporter asked him why he required IDs for entry into a town hall in Dubuque. The two-term congressman later faced a hostile crowd of constituents angry over his support of the Republicans’ disastrous American Health Care Act.

Now, Blum’s name is being linked to a hate-filled Facebook group that the GOP’s gubernatorial candidate in Florida, Ron DeSantis, allegedly co-moderated.

“.@RodBlum is a member of the same hateful Facebook group that his House colleague @RonDeSantisFL moderated,” the progressive research group American Bridge 21st Century tweeted on Saturday.

American Ledger, published by American Bridge, had earlier reported that DeSantis was one of several moderators of the “Tea Party” private Facebook group, whose followers have posted racist attacks against Black Lives Matter, insults of Parkland school shooting survivors, and bigoted disinformation about Muslim immigrants, among other examples of hate speech. The Facebook group, which has 97,000 followers, was first reported on Twitter by Media Matters researcher Natalie Martinez.

DeSantis quit the group after the reports were published.

On Friday, Associated Press reporter Ryan J. Foley emailed a Blum spokesperson a simple question: “I am looking into this news that Rep. Blum is a member of the Tea Party Facebook group where racist and offensive material is routinely shared,” Foley wrote. “Ron DeSantis said he wasn’t aware that he was a member of this group and has quit it. Can you explain his membership in this group?”

Blum, a public official, could have given several answers here. Instead, he tweeted Foley’s question, along with the reporter’s office address, cellphone number, Twitter handle, and other work details.



https://splinternews.com/gop-rep-rod-blum-doxed-a-reporter-instead-of-answering-1828765521



ABBY FINKENAUER




https://www.abbyfinkenauer.com