Subcommittee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks as FAA Acting Administrator Daniel Elwell, NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt, and DOT I.G. Calvin Scovel appear before a Senate Transportation subcommittee hearing on commercial airline safety, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, 3/27/19, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

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As Red State‘s Elizabeth Vaughn wrote earlier, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) engaged in a “name and shame” campaign Monday on Twitter by tweeting out the names and employers of Trump supporters who had donated the maximum amount to the President’s reelection campaign.

The donors were voters in Castro’s Congressional district (the 20th).

A quick recap, via Fox News:

But the Texas congressman’s original tweet included a list of San Antonio residents who had donated large amounts to the Trump campaign, along with the names of their employers. It is unclear who actually compiled the list. “Sad to see so many San Antonians as 2019 maximum donors to Donald Trump,” Castro tweeted, along with the Twitter handles of several owners of local businesses who apparently donated to Trump. “Their contributions are fueling a campaign of hate that labels Hispanic immigrants as ‘invaders.’” The list — titled “WHO’S FUNDING TRUMP?” — had 44 names of donors and their employers. […] Castro’s tweet comes as 2020 Democratic presidential candidates are criticizing President Trump’s rhetoric ….

Castro is also the chairman of his brother Julián Castro‘s 2020 presidential campaign.

In response to Joaquin Castro’s posting of the donor information, fellow Texan and Sen. Ted Cruz (R) blasted the move:

EVERYONE needs to tone the hateful partisan rhetoric way down. This is WRONG & Castro should retract it. In our constitutional Republic, the People rightly hold their representatives accountable; elected representatives should not be vilifying & doxxing their own constituents. https://t.co/rrgQbK7PLU — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 6, 2019

So did Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), who survived a June 2017 assassination attempt by a crazed Bernie Sanders supporter who specifically targeted and opened fire on a field full of Republican House and Senate members and staffers during a Congressional baseball practice:

People should not be personally targeted for their political views. Period. This isn’t a game. It’s dangerous, and lives are at stake. I know this firsthand. https://t.co/PbxUMIOhae — Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) August 6, 2019

Sam from Twitchy Team made an excellent point here. Castro obviously isn’t going to delete his tweet, but what will Twitter do?

How is this acceptable, @TwitterSupport? He is going to get someone hurt doing this … doxxing people? And to think, he’s the brother of a presidential candidate. Awful. https://t.co/c5fnnsqOPh — The🐰FOO (@PolitiBunny) August 6, 2019

After the wave of criticism he received over his tweets, Castro unfortunately doubled down in defense of them, noting it was publicly available information:

The graphic didn’t contain “private or personal info — no addresses or phone #, etc,” he wrote. “It’s publicly reported info printed in newspapers routinely from the @nyt to the @dcexaminer. You know that.”

It’s a talking point that defensive supporters of Castro posted on Twitter, which completely. missed. the. point. As The Federalist‘s David Harsanyi observed:

It's really weird that none of the people who tell me this is a matter of public record want me to post their addresses in my twitter feed. https://t.co/coNIUSkD61 — David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) August 6, 2019

Harsanyi also pointed out in a must-read piece how proficient the organized left have become at utilizing this despicable tactic, which has destroyed the careers and lives of some of the people who have been targeted:

Many Democrats like Castro have adopted a political zealotry that rationalizes basically any tactic they deem is necessary to fight Trump. This, I guess, now includes intimidation. That’s because the purpose of tweeting these names wasn’t merely to bully those who have already donated to Trump, but to warn anyone in his district thinking about contributing to Trump to consider the potential retaliatory public attacks on their businesses (or worse.) Leftist groups have become quite adept at destroying the lives of those who back causes they dislike. Most notably, we have former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich, who had the audacity to dissent from prevailing opinions in California. While Eich can weather such an event, I wonder what the people on Castro’s list will do if their businesses go under? All for the sin of expressing a political opinion.

There’s plenty more where that came from, too.

As of this writing, Julián Castro has not issued a statement noting where he stands on his brother’s underhanded machinations. If he doesn’t, we’ll have to abide by the AOC rule and assume he condones his brother’s attempts at political intimidation and incitement.

Their rules and all.

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— Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter. –