Senator-Elect David Leyonhjelm Got Twitter Today And Screwed Up Instantly
No, David. You are doing it wrong.
Imagine you’re a newly elected federal Senator. You’re excited, you’re nervous; you’re keen to make a splash but you don’t want to screw up early on. As a good first step to engaging with voters and raising your profile, you’ve decided to get Twitter. But what should your all-important first Tweet be?
Maybe something upbeat and broadly positive about how you’re excited to represent the people of Australia and will work hard to make sure their voices are heard?
Not if you’re NSW Liberal Democrat Senator David Leyonhjelm.
Is approval of gay lifestyle necessary to support gay rights? Is reckless promiscuity a right? Tolerance doesn’t require approval.
— David Leyonhjelm (@DavidLeyonhjelm) May 19, 2014
Leyonhjelm, who wins points for being the Senator whose name sounds most like a Norse thunder god, took his first babysteps into the world of Tweeting with the above beauty this morning. (While the Twitter account is so far unverified, it does appear to be linking to his Facebook page.)
Twitter has responded with feelings, is Twitter as wont to do.
THAT IS LITERALLY DAVID LEYONHJELM’S FIRST TWEET. FLYING START.
— Casey Briggs (@CaseyBriggs) May 19, 2014
@DavidLeyonhjelm more focus on benghazi pls.
— t. blight (@the_blight) May 19, 2014
I’m not calling you obsessed but if you ask prospective staff if they’re gay then use your 1st tweet to talk about gay sex, you’re obsessed.
— Drew Sheldrick (@drewsheldrick) May 19, 2014
Leyonhjelm is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, a libertarian microparty who lots of people mistakenly voted for in 2013 because they drew first position on the ballot paper and sometimes people are a bit silly.
Last week a candidate for a media advisor position in Leyonhjelm’s office told the Daily Telegraph that the incoming Senator had asked him if he was gay in a job interview. When asked about it, Leyonhjelm said he supports gay marriage.
He also called the applicant a dickhead:
While it does put that inaugural Tweet in something vaguely resembling context, it’s also kind of fantastic how the whole weird saga has simultaneously highlighted how badly Leyonhjelm needs a media advisor, and how quickly he has made anyone who might have thought of applying run for the damn hills.
Hopefully the cycle will keep repeating until all of the Senator-elect’s communiques consist of the phrase “I AM LEYONHJELM” screamed through a bullhorn.
