Congressman Conor Lamb
By Irish Echo Staff
Not even Memorial Day was immune from a presidential tweet storm.
President Trump on Monday took to Twitter and launched an assault on Congressman Conor Lamb, a Democrat and Marine Corps veteran who is battling to retain his Pittsburgh area House seat.
According to reports on multiple online news sites, the president called Lamb “an American fraud.”
As is frequently the case, the president’s opinion was undercut somewhat by his lack of a proofreader. He referred to “Conor Lamm.”
As is also frequently the case, the president’s point of view was also undercut by a degree of political misfiring.
He dubbed Lamb “a puppet for Crazy Nancy Pelosi” when in fact Lamb was one of fifteen House Democrats not to vote for Pelosi as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The president’s tweet, as well as excoriating Lamb, was also aimed at supporting his Republican opponent in the November election, Sean Parnell, also Irish American and also a military veteran who was wounded in combat in Afghanistan.
For his part, Parnell was rather more diplomatic than the president. He responded that it was pretty cool to get a shout out from a president, regardless of which party the president belonged to.
Lamb won a special election to Pennsylvania’s 18th congressional district in 2018. After redistricting, he and Parnell are contesting what is now the state’s 17th district.
Lamb’s family is deeply rooted in Pittsburgh politics. He is a former Marine and Assistant U.S. Attorney whose Irish roots mostly go back to counties Galway and Mayo. He captained the Pittsburgh Celtics Gaelic Football Club from 2006 to 2008.
His uncle, Jim Lamb, is president of the Irish Institute of Pittsburgh and Honorary Irish Consul in the city.
