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Updated 18 minutes ago
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey shared one of President Donald Trump’s recent social-media posts with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics to call attention to what the Scranton Democrat views as “unethical and inappropriate” behavior by the president.
In a post Wednesday to his personal Twitter account that later was shared on his official government account, Trump criticized the department store chain Nordstrom for dropping his daughter Ivanka Trump’s clothing and accessory line.
“My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom,” Trump wrote. “She is a great person — always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!”
Seven minutes later, Casey retweeted Trump’s post with the following message: “CC: @OfficeGovEthics.”
As of early Thursday afternoon, Casey’s tweet had been retweeted more than 18,000 times.
CC: @OfficeGovEthics https://t.co/9hy6OgfA9m
— Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) February 8, 2017
CC: @OfficeGovEthics https://t.co/9hy6OgfA9m
Earlier Thursday, Casey spokeswoman Jacklin Rhoads said, “The senator feels it was unethical and inappropriate for the president to lash out at a private company for refusing to enrich his family … The president took a step too far.”
Rhoads said Casey had not decided whether he would file a formal complaint with the Office of Government Ethics.
The Office of Government Ethics didn’t return messages.
Kathleen Clark, a government ethics expert, told The Associated Press that Trump’s Nordstrom tweet is problematic because other retailers now may think twice about dropping the Ivanka Trump brand for fear of getting criticized publicly by the president. Clark said it especially was disturbing that Trump retweeted his message on the official White House account.
“The implicit threat was that he will use whatever authority he has to retaliate against Nordstrom or anyone who crosses his interest,” said Clark, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis.
Clark defended the president’s right to use his personal Twitter account to express his views, however. She noted that government workers recently set up alt-EPA accounts to criticize the president’s policies.
“A government employee, even a president, is allowed to tweet in his personal capacity,” she said.
The Associated Press contributed. Tom Fontaine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-320-7847 or tfontaine@tribweb.com.
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