Tennessee Democratic State Representative Steve Cohen has claimed that a tweet calling musician Cyndi Lauper “hot” is part of a ruse to teach the media a lesson in journalistic integrity.
The tweet read, “@cyndilauper great night, couldn’t believe how hot u were. see you again next Tuesday. try a little tenderness.”
Cohen sent the tweet after attending a concert at the White House that showcased music from Memphis. He left it on his Twitter thread for 21 minutes before it was deleted. Cohen says it was all orchestrated.
The scrubbed post got picked up by a website called Politwoops, a site which archives all deleted tweets by Congress members. The site is part of Sunlight Foundation, an organization that aims to make government more transparent.
Cohen says he suspected this would happen with his Cyndi Lauper tweet. Politwoops ignited a Twitter controversy earlier this year that Cohen admitted hurt his relationship with his estranged daughter.
“Two months ago, my family was personally hurt and victimized by sensationalized, fact-less speculation masquerading as journalism,” Cohen said in a statement.
During the State of the Union earlier this year, Cohen sent a tweet thanking a young blonde 24-year-old woman for tuning in, calling her a “beautiful girl” and adding “Ilu,” which is internet shorthand for “I love you.”
It turned out the woman was not Cohen’s inamorata but his long-lost daughter who he was attempting to shield from the public eye.
With his ruse panning out as planned, Cohen was good natured about the outcome.
“I hope this serves to bring attention to the need for journalistic integrity as well as encouraging everyone to watch the spectacular and hot performances of Memphis music by Cyndi Lauper, as well as Justin Timberlake, William Bell, Steve Cropper, Sam Moore, Booker T. Jones, Queen Latifah, Ben Harper, Charlie Musselwhite, Eddie Floyd, Alabama Shakes, Joshua Ledet, and Mavis Staples on PBS next Tuesday evening,” he said.
Good one, Cohen.
Source Time
