Jason Noble

jnoble2@dmreg.com

Behold, the power of social media.

Where else but Twitter could the world witness a flamboyant pop music icon fighting with a staid Midwestern governor over pig gestation crates?

Cher, the generation-spanning diva, launched a tweet Tuesday afternoon directly at Iowa Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, apparently responding to a comment he made in response to her previous tweets on hog confinement legislation vetoed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Confused?

Here's the play-by-play:

On Saturday, Christie, a Republican, vetoed a bill that would've banned the use of gestation crates at New Jersey hog farms. The crates, which severely restrict pigs' movement, are common in Iowa's large-scale animal agriculture facilities but virtually nonexistent in New Jersey. Branstad has said he advised Christie to reject the measure.

The veto outraged animal rights activists, who accused Christie of pandering to Iowa agricultural interests in anticipation of a run for president and an Iowa caucus campaign. The controversy was irresistible to cable news and political media and widely reported.

On Monday, Branstad lauded Christie's move and reiterated his role in dissuading his New Jersey counterpart from signing the bill into law.

Later on Tuesday and again on Wednesday afternoon, Cher chimed in with a series of tweets that were highly critical of Christie, Iowa hog farmers, Smithfield Foods and "meat eaters" in general.

"Iowa [pig emoji] Farmers, WHY MUST U TORTURE PREG.PIGS? U PUT THEM IN CRATES & LOCK EM DOWN SO THEY CANT MOVE! C. CHRISTIE,UR DESPICABLE BULLY 4GET POTUS," Cher tweeted at 8:22 p.m. Tuesday.

When told of Cher's Twitter outburst Wednesday morning, Branstad was dismissive, telling reporters: "Yeah, I saw that. They know a lot about pig production in Hollywood."

That moved Cher to respond to Branstad directly later that afternoon.

"W/Respect Gov Branstad, We do Know about Pigs! The TWO LEGGED KIND! SLAUGHTER YOUR PIGS, BUT MUST U TORTURE THEM 1ST?" she wrote.

A spokeswoman for Branstad declined to comment.