Commissioner criticized after daughter’s DeSantis tweet
Following a vocal onslaught from critics, Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay was forced to address an inflammatory social media post made by her daughter about Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Earlier this week, McKinlay’s 19-year-old daughter commented on a tweet about DeSantis, posting “someone assassinate him already.” The tweet was in reference to the governor’s decision to draft legislation that would expand Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law.
As the political discourse in the country becomes increasingly more hostile and divisive, social media has only thrown more gasoline on the fire. With the ability to publicly tweet about — or tweet at — a politician in an instant, the line between what’s commentary and what’s a threat has become extremely muddied.
During the public comment portion of Tuesday’s County Commission meeting, McKinlay was lambasted by multiple critics, who also were angry about the county’s mask mandate. They called into question how far is too far when criticizing the governor on social media.
McKinlay responded to complaints about her daughter’s tweet at the end of Tuesday’s meeting, calling the matter a “very unfortunate situation.”
“Her father and I are not happy about [it] and are handling this matter as any parent would handle a matter with their child,” McKinlay said. “We’re handling it privately and it is being dealt with. I respect your support and I respect your privacy as we deal with this matter pertaining to one of our children.
“Many of you up here who have raised kids who are older than the age of 19 knows that the maturity of a 19-year-old is not quite there yet, but we are certainly dealing with it and I respect your support.”
There has been increase in news headlines and cases in which people criticized politicians — a result of our heightened political divide, experts say. “We’re basically a 50⁄50 community,” said John Howes, a Fort Lauderdale attorney whose practice includes criminal law. “How much of it is political speech and how much of it then is a call to arms?”
Just a few days ago, a Lantana area woman, Karen Jones, 55, was arrested on charges of making a threat against DeSantis on Twitter. Jones was accused of saying she would shoot the governor and Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott for “looting” her state, according to her arrest report. Jones told investigators that her tweet was just a joke.
Howes, who is not involved in Jones’ case, said there are multiple elements in play as prosecutors decide when to pursue these type of social-media-threat cases.
It’s a toss-up on whether any legal case would result if prosecutors do find that it really was an off-the-cuff remark posted on Twitter. “The ultimate issue is it has to be determined on a caseby-case, or should be, interpreted on a case-by-case basis,” he said.
Newly elected commissioner Maria Sachs spoke in defense of McKinlay, calling her a “very strong woman.”
“You are a warrior for a mom and this is what we all do as parents,” Sachs said during Tuesday’s meeting. “You are a mentor as a parent for all of us here as women, as mothers, as fathers. You show the sacrifice we all make as parents to serve our community.”