Earlier this week, Twitter creepster Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) tweeted to Cyndi Lauper, “great night,couldn’t believe how hot u were.see you again next Tuesday.try a little tenderness.” Twice.
It was all part of his master plan to “punk” the press, natch. Something, something, the toaster is still loyal.
That’s his story and he’s sticking to it!
Cohen says he wanted to promote Memphis music and no better way to get media attention than to delete a tweet
— Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) April 12, 2013
To clarify, Rep. Cohen tweeted Cyndi Lauper to garner media attention and then promote a hometown PBS documentary on Memphis music
— Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) April 12, 2013
Rep. Cohen tells me every reporter should go see "Absence of Malice with Paul Newman" and not "rush to judgement all the time."
— Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) April 12, 2013
Cohen says of WAPO's gossip column, "Reliable Source, they aren't reliable for anything."
— Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) April 12, 2013
Cohen tweeted Lauper, the "see ya Tuesday" is when the PBS special on Memphis soul music airs. So he'll see her on TV-tweet/delete strategy
— Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) April 12, 2013
Cohen also told me he's had absolutely no relationship with Cyndi Lauper except that he thinks she's "a hot singer."
— Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) April 12, 2013
Cohen: "I've been waiting to trick the press corps for 2 months after what they did to my family."
— Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) April 12, 2013
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Shorter Cohen: Soon.
And really, he just wanted to get his message out. That’s why he called a press conference on Friday:
Cohen: "best way to get a message out is to tweet and delete" because the press jumps on it
— Kate Nocera (@KateNocera) April 12, 2013
Cohen: Cyndi Laupers performance was hot, as was Justin timberlake's.
— Kate Nocera (@KateNocera) April 12, 2013
Cohen: my constituents want people to come to Memphis for our music!
— Kate Nocera (@KateNocera) April 12, 2013
Cohen says he told Rep. Courtney and Rep. Yarmouth that he was going to do this.
— Kate Nocera (@KateNocera) April 12, 2013
Cohen says if he had tweeted that Justin Timberlake was hot we would have written he was gay.
— Kate Nocera (@KateNocera) April 12, 2013
However, Cohen points out, timberlake's performance WAS hot.
— Kate Nocera (@KateNocera) April 12, 2013
Cohen: I don't think its bad if people think I find Cyndi Lauper attractive, birds do it, bees do it.
— Kate Nocera (@KateNocera) April 12, 2013
Cohen: this story is not about me, it's about the press.
Oh! Ok.
— Kate Nocera (@KateNocera) April 12, 2013
Cohen: I think I've got Twitter pretty well down now.
— Kate Nocera (@KateNocera) April 12, 2013
Seriously, dude?
http://twitter.com/lachlan/statuses/322749241434963968
And here’s what Cohen thinks of Politwoops, the Sunlight Foundation website that snagged his tweets before he deleted them.
Rep Cohen: "I think politiwoops…is the wrong thing to do" referring to archiving deleted tweets by politicians.
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) April 12, 2013
I think it's time for @RepCohen to step away from teh Twitters for awhile. http://t.co/8kIyJ2Hniz
— Drew McCoy (@_Drew_McCoy_) April 12, 2013
Editor’s note: This post was updated with additional tweets during Rep. Cohen’s press conference.
Update:
Cohen’s official statement:
https://twitter.com/RepCohen/status/322781148948336640
Update:
Here we go again:
#MemphisSoul @WhiteHouse w/ #hot performances by @CyndiLauper @jtimberlake @Alabama_Shakes & more. http://t.co/tARHp13Xw7 Tues 7pm CT @PBS
— Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) April 12, 2013
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