SCOOPING: “Be loud”: House Democrat backs rowdy protests against his GOP colleague

Rep. Eric Sorensen (D., Ill.) has a long reputation as a keyboard warrior — one he upheld this week when he encouraged Democrats outside his state to protest his Republican colleague, Rep. Mariannette Miller Meeks (R., Iowa).

“Wish I could be there with you in the [Quad Cities], friends,” Sorenson wrote on a Facebook post by the Scott County Democrats that was obtained by the Washington Reporter. Sorensen, who has been criticized for how he “can't stop tweeting about how dumb his constituents are,” encouraged activists to protest Miller-Meeks. “GOP members like her need to hear loud voices and clear messages from the people they supposedly serve. Hope you have big numbers! Be loud, be diligent, and please stay safe.”

Across the country, Republican lawmakers have faced withering criticisms at their town halls. In most of these cases, the opposition isn’t as organic as it seems.

“The demonstrations drove mainstream media coverage of brewing backlash against the Trump administration as the lower chamber left Washington, D.C., for a week-long recess,” the Washington Free Beacon reported. “Well-funded liberal organizations organized many of them. The George Soros-funded groups Indivisible and MoveOn were at the center of the demonstrations.”