The brother of Democratic presidential candidate, former Obama administration secretary, and ex-San Antonio mayor Julian Castro doxxed donors to President Donald Trump on Aug. 6, calling them out by name in what one critic called “a dangerous escalation” in the wake of the recent mass shootings.
Joaquin Castro, a Democratic Texas representative and chair of his brother’s presidential campaign, published a list of 44 donors who live in San Antonio and gave the maximum possible amount to the Trump campaign this year.
The list included the names of each donor in addition to the companies they work for. Some were listed as retired, or homemaker.
The list appeared to meet the definition of doxxing, or “search for and publish private or identifying information about (a particular individual) on the Internet, typically with malicious intent.”
Castro claimed that the donors’ “contributions are fueling a campaign of hate that labels Hispanic immigrants as ‘invaders,'” referring to a manifesto attributed to the alleged El Paso mass shooter.
The missive provoked a major backlash, with people calling the post irresponsible.
“In the wake of a horrific mass shooting, a member of Congress named the retirees in San Antonio who gave maximum political contributions to Trump. This seems like a dangerous escalation to me,” wrote David Mastio, an editor at USA Today.
“What the [expletive] is this? Democrat candidates are openly targeting private businesses on social media now? Holy [expletive],” added political commentator Stephen Miller. “Would love the logic of telling people to give up their guns squared with these same people inciting a mob to attack a private business.”
“Doxxing voters for not agreeing with you politically is a perfectly sane and reasonable thing to do... This same guy runs around claiming that the Right are the ones putting people in danger and fueling hatred,” another Twitter user added.
“I am sure Castro is proud of this. He wants to shut down anyone who holds a different political opinion than the party approved opinion. This is fascism. This is reality. This is the modern left. Disgraceful,” added another.
While many negative responses appeared, a few people said they supported Castro’s post, with one writing: “These people deserve to be named and shamed and the businesses boycotted!”
A Trump 2020 campaign official reacted to Castro’s post, writing, “How low have Dems sunk? This is Joaquin Castro, Congressman & chair of his brother’s campaign. Naming private citizens & their employers, targeting them for political views and exercising 1st Amendment rights.”
He added that Castro “should delete and apologize” and urged the Castro campaign to disavow the post.
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