Twitter does not always feel good.
As the Republican National Convention drew to a close, Minnesota Republicans drew notice to a tweet from Democratic U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison's account.
"Nothing like 80's coke addicted James Brown to close out a Republican convention #GOPconvention," said the tweet, that went out to Ellison's 31,000 twitter followers as Brown's "Living in America" blasted in the Republican's Tampa convention hall. A minute later, the tweet was gone from the account.
A few hours later, after Republicans and a reporter inquired about the tweet, came another tweet: "I work for Rep Ellison & tweeted from this acct a comment about James Brown. Rep Ellison did not send the tweet & I apologize for the error."
According to Jennifer Gore, spokeswoman for Ellison, staffer Jeremy Slevin, the congressman's deputy communications director, penned the Brown tweet and thought he was sending it from his own account. When he realized his error, Gore said, Slevin deleted the message.
Ellison, who does most of his own tweeting, followed up with a twitter message of his own.
"I didn't author tweet re James Brown last nite, but I apologize. I'm a JB fan. Also, I would never denigrate anyone in recovery," his account said Friday morning.
Gore said the incident serves as a reminder of the care that need be taken with social media. She said Ellison supports Slevin, of the errant tweet, and any disciplinary action would be a personnel decision.
