‘Dude, you will never be cool’: Idaho congressman’s social media is ‘excruciating’
It’s not easy being a career politician in America.
Not only are you probably way past retirement age, but you also must attempt to wrap your remaining brain cells around what young voters think. And, in the case of Idaho congressman Mike Simpson, perhaps try to connect with these grandkid-age constituents.
It’s a recipe for face-melting TikTok disaster.
I’m not sure how long these unfortunate posts have been trickling out. I only first cringed at one a month ago. But the 75-year-old has been starring in jaw-droppingly humiliating videos shared by his social media accounts.
We must assume they’re intended to be engaging. Or funny?
They are absolutely brutal.
The newest from @congressmanmikesimpson, released Thursday, is a 6-second spoof on the “Love Island” dating reality show. It shows Simpson shuffling out of an elevator. (After the doors try to shut on him. Awkward.)
“This week, a hot new bombshell enters the villa,” the "Love Island” narrator says. But with a Simpson caption: “Everyone’s thoughts when I enter the House floor.”
Scroll down. Check out the Instagram comments.
“You literally need to stop.”
“You look insane.”
“I find these videos excruciating — instead of wasting your time trying to be ‘amusing,’ do something brave like stand up to the collapse of our democracy. You are not serious sir.”
“Dude, you will never be cool. How about you start just doing what’s right for Idahoans?”
That clip is far from Simpson’s most embarrassing. I’d award that to one that made me shudder in mid-June. Simpson’s handlers — or perhaps his “social media girl,” as she’s called in another post — took the time to film him in various Boise-area locations. It features Simpson lip-syncing, ineptly, to the viral AI-generated hit “The Puerto Rico Song” by Saxboy Billy.
While shaking his hips. And waving his arms.
Top comment for that debacle? “Age limits. Term limits.”
That comment had 1,227 likes when I checked.
But the video itself had 6,099 likes, too!
Fighting through a curious combination of nausea and laughter, I played it for my 16-year-old. Well, maybe 7 seconds of it. Until he fled the room. I typed his verbatim response in real time:
“Oh, my God. Oh God. Dude. That guy is too Unc to be running. He should not be there. Get that guy in a home. That guy is not allowed to be — out! That is not what we want!”
Is that the reaction Simpson’s office wants?
It must be. They keep unleashing these mortifying posts. It ultimately doesn’t matter in Idaho, right? Simpson’s job is secure. He’s a Republican and was first elected last century. And he’s certainly getting more algorithmic traction on social media by letting himself be demeaned than he ever would otherwise.
But as many of us keep asking bazillion-term politicians doing whatever it takes to cling to power: Was it worth it?