Republican congressman Paul Mitchell, of Michigan, got the hashtag #stopthestupid trending over the weekend after firing off a tweet blasting President Donald Trump’s conspiracy theories about the election while adding the #stopthestupid at the end of his comment.
Mitchell, who voted with Trump 96 percent of the time by FiveThirtyEight, apparently couldn’t just stay on the sidelines as Trump tries to subvert the democratic process.
“Oh my God. .@realDonaldTrump Please for the sake of our Nation please drop these arguments without evidence or factual basis. #stopthestupid,” the conservative lawmaker tweeted Sunday night.
Within hours, there were more than 21,000 tweets featuring #stopthestupid, many of them wondering aloud why more Republicans cannot show the spine and integrity displayed by Mitchell.
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But Mitchell apparently couldn’t stand serving in Congress after twice having spent more than $3 million of his own money running for office. When he announced in July 2019 that he would not seek a third term — even though he won reelection by 25 percentage points in his safely red district — Mitchell made no secret of his disgust for Washington.
During a speech on the House floor, Mitchell made no secret of his disgust for Washington as he announced his retirement despite winning his reelection by 25 percentage points in his safely red district.
“It appears to me that rhetoric overwhelms policy, and politics consumes much of the oxygen in this city,” he told his colleagues.
Mitchell had this to say to Politico: “You look at the rhetoric and vitriol, it overwhelms policy, politics becomes the norm. Everything’s about politics. Everything’s about an election. And at some point of time, that’s not why I came here.
“The problem is it trickles down to our constituents, where they think it’s OK. And they think this way the world should be. I think leaders have to lead. They have to stand up, and they have to demonstrate what we should expect of each other in our country. I was commenting earlier to our senior staff, ‘Do we see the next four [years], in the near term, the better angels coming out of this?’”
Mitchell’s viral tweet Sunday was one of several he has published in recent days. What’s so obvious is that the conservative congressman is saying out loud what so many of his colleagues are thinking. Nothing like resigning from office to help one muster a little honesty.
Oh my God. .@realDonaldTrump Please for the sake of our Nation please drop these arguments without evidence or factual basis. #stopthestupid https://t.co/IMMImXrckV
— Rep. Paul Mitchell (@RepPaulMitchell) November 30, 2020
.@realDonaldTrump – pronouncing that repeatedly does not make it more true. “Winning” in elections occurs when all LEGALLY cast ballots are counted and legal challenges are resolved. File legal challenges as warranted and then try some patience and calm. https://t.co/1Ac8Rr8FGb
— Rep. Paul Mitchell (@RepPaulMitchell) November 7, 2020
Proud to be among my colleagues that respect elections and our Constitution. I did not run for office to support any single politician but rather our nation. #electionover https://t.co/ZNdcEKfshE
— Rep. Paul Mitchell (@RepPaulMitchell) November 28, 2020
