Moments after the American public learned that South Carolina Republican Congressman Joe Wilson was the one that pointed a finger at the president and called him a liar on national television, the digital race was on to see who would flame Wilson the most, and how big the fire would spread.
The digital world came alive, and Wilson was quickly one of the most “trended topics” on Twitter.
Then Wilson’s website, http://www.joewilson.house.gov/ went down with a placeholder page that said: “This site is down for maintenance. Please check back soon.”
Then he became one of the most Googled terms of the day.
Some people even fired back. According to CNN, some new Twitter accounts were created, with their first and only Tweets being in support of Wilson.
But even other members of Congress went public and digital with their condemnation of Wilson: “Biggest disappointment of evening, the total lack of respect show by one member for the president,” Tweeted Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri. “Never acceptable to behave like a jerk.”
According to CNN, South Carolina Democratic chairwoman Carol Fowler capitalized: “Once again a South Carolina Republican has embarrassed our state,” Fowler’s office said, referring to S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford’s extramarital, international affair. “Never has any member of Congress shown such disrespect for the president during a speech. … Joe Wilson is a poor example of a statesman and an American.”
Wilson currently faces Democratic challenger Rob Miller in the mid-term election in 2010.