The Week on Politwoops: Rangel scraps solicitation, a view from the dais and more

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Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., poses with a statue of a lion in a photo deleted from his campaign Twitter account.
Deleted image via Politwoops.

It’s time again to wrap up the week with a review of the most notable deleted tweets from politicians caught and archived by our Politwoops project.

It’s no secret that members of Congress spend a significant amount of time chasing contributions, but politicians often temper or cease their campaigning immediately following a tragedy. This was the case for presidential candidates following the 2012 mass shooting in Aurora, Colo., the Senate primary in Massachusetts after the Boston Marathon bombing and this week Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., joins the practice as his campaign Twitter account removed a solicitation hours after the gas explosion in his district, which he called “our community’s 9/11.” The deleted tweet now archived by our Politwoops project said, “Will you donate today to return the Lion of Harlem to Congress?” with the image seen above to the right and included a link to a donation page.

A photo deleted from the Twitter account of Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., of Secretary of State John Kerry seen from behind the dais as he speaks at a committee hearing.
Deleted photo via Politwoops.

The official account of Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., removed a tweet with the message, “Great to see @JohnKerry coming up to Congress for the Budget Committee hearing on State and Foreign Operations” and the image to the left. The message never reappeared on her feed and the Politwoops archive is the only place to find this behind-the-dais shot.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., started using the hashtag #NYtownoftheday on his official Twitter feed to share factoids about locations throughout the Empire State. Yesterday his account removed one of these tidbits that said, “Bombay is the only town in the US named for a city in India #NYtownoftheday.” While it’s not possible to explain the reasoning behind a deleted tweet, it could be due to the fact the city of Bombay in India is now known as Mumbai since it officially changed the name in 1996, something pointed out by @Rickrok who responded to the senator, “Is that why they changed the name in India?” The only remaining factoid about the town of Bombay on Schumer’s official account says, “The Town of Bombay was settled around 1805 but was devastated in 1877 by a plague of grasshoppers #NYtownoftheday.”

The campaign account of Gov. Susana Martinez, R-N.M., tweeted (and deleted) the first tweet in nearly two years that said, “My opponents have taken advantage of my fundraising freeze from the “session blackout.” Can I count on your support?” with a link to what appears to be a donation page. Other curious deletions this week include the accounts of Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., that removed a tweet that was public for three weeks that said, “‘The purpose of our lives is to be happy.’ – Dalai Lama,” Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., who deleted a message that said, “To all those celebrating in Pennsylvania, Happy Purim!” and finally the official account for Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., that removed a message saying, “Don’t think I could ever do the “business traveler” thing – eating in hotel bars alone is depressing.”

That does it for deleted tweets that stood out for us this week, but please dig into the database to find your own stories and, as always, send us an email if there are politicians we’re missing.