Dave Ball, Pennsylvania's Washington County GOP chair, is facing online ridicule for comments he made during an interview with local CBS affiliate KDKA. Ball asserted Pennsylvania's Republican Senator Pat Toomey wasn't representing their interests when he voted to convict former President Donald Trump during last week's impeachment proceedings.
Ball's comment quickly drew mocking comments from Twitter users after Jan Wolfe shared a clip of the interview. Ball's comments seem to indicate dissatisfaction with Toomey voting in the best interest of all of his constituents.
"We did not send him there to 'do the right thing' or whatever he said he was doing. We sent him there to represent us."
Actual quote from a PA GOP official, explaining why Sen. Toomey should be censured: “We did not send him there to v… https://t.co/FXMybPEgye— Jan Wolfe (@Jan Wolfe) 1613444446.0
Former Illinois Representative and GOP presidential candidate Joe Walsh tweeted he has heard similar sentiments on the campaign trail.
"She asked why I'd run against Trump. I said because it was the right thing to do."
"She screamed at me 'We don't want you to do the right thing. We want you to stand with our President. No matter what!'"
Reminds me of what an Iowa GOP voter said during my primary challenge to Trump. She asked why I’d run against Trump… https://t.co/unzLkQVvos— Joe Walsh (@Joe Walsh) 1613484026.0
Twitter users were certainly incredulous, but most were not surprised.
@uncle_linny @ThankfulThinker @JanNWolfe @amandacarpenter They are saying all the quiet parts out loud because they… https://t.co/KTL2HPYAb5— Thoracy (@Thoracy) 1613454952.0
@LiberalChick @JanNWolfe T***p showed them they don’t have to pretend/hide anymore.— Mark Allen👨💻 (@Mark Allen👨💻) 1613445453.0
@kdnerak33 @JanNWolfe @Acosta Nah, it's on the GOP. They have cultivated this attitude long before Trump.— Chimo (@Chimo) 1613446252.0
Many were very critical of Ball's comments, and their implications.
@JoeNBC My understanding is that the PA GOP official & the party didn't "send" Toomey, rather that Toomey won elect… https://t.co/2lm7bGWk1U— Rhoda a.k.a. Rosie (@Rhoda a.k.a. Rosie) 1613471566.0
@JanNWolfe @Acosta And that is the exact reason Sen Toomey shouldn't be censured as clearly the PA GOP does not kno… https://t.co/cxookc70wA— Robert E Palma (@Robert E Palma) 1613445189.0
@JanNWolfe @maggieNYT In other words, “We did not send him there to uphold his oath to our country’s Constitution.… https://t.co/hBVDd0UILf— BarrDeceivedForTrump (@BarrDeceivedForTrump) 1613446392.0
It didn't take long for the mockery to commence.
@JoeNBC We did not send Sen. Toomey to Congress to do the right thing. We sent him to investigate Hunter Biden and… https://t.co/FCHXzbBiTY— The End Justifies the Memes (@The End Justifies the Memes) 1613473615.0
Toomey was one of only 7 Republicans who, along with all 50 Democrats, voted to convict former President Trump during the impeachment trial last week. Trump faced charges of inciting the violent insurrection attempt at the Washington D. C. on January 6th of this year.
While 57 Senators is a majority, it was not enough to actually convict Trump, as that requires a 2/3 majority. Trump was ultimately acquitted but only with the support of 43 of his fellow Republicans.
Toomey is far from being the only one of those seven Republicans to face pushback from his constituents. Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy and North Carolina Senator Richard Burr were both censured by their states' Republican parties in the past week.
Senator Cassidy's censure came only hours after he voted to convict.
Pennsylvania's county-level GOP chairs have yet to come to an agreement on whether to officially censure Senator Toomey.