The Influencer Who Came to Congress

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Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna was on her way off the House floor on June 15 when she saw Mike Turner of Ohio headed her way. She steeled herself for a tough exchange. Less than 24 hours earlier, Turner and 19 other Republicans had blocked Lunaโ€™s resolution censuring California Democrat Adam Schiff, the MAGA-world villain who led Trumpโ€™s first impeachment. Undaunted, Luna had mobilized a backlash by right-wing firebrands Steve BannonCharlie Kirk, and an activist known as DC_Draino who labeled Turner and the other GOP dissenters the โ€œCoward 20,โ€ publishing their Congressional office phone numbers and triggering a wave of irate calls and social media harassment.

Turning to face the bulky ten-term veteran who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, a defiant Luna, 34, paused near the back doors of the House chamber. But as Turner started engaging her in discreet chitchat, it quickly became clear that he wasnโ€™t picking a fight. He was looking to surrender. โ€œWe really want to censure Schiff,โ€ Turner told the Florida freshman. โ€œHow can we work together?โ€

If Luna was surprised, she was also prepared, pulling from her purse a revised censure resolution that would force a House Ethics investigation into Schiff but that dropped an unprecedented $16 million fine. Sitting in her House office moments after the conversation with Turner, Luna exhibited a studied swagger. โ€œI am telling you: I am persistent, and I am not kidding, censuring is going to happen.โ€ Six days later, Luna forced another House vote to censure Schiff. This time, it passed 213-209. Not a single Republican voted against it.

The resolution was a milestone for Luna, marking her emergence from the mass of recently arrived GOP insurgents. To some, sheโ€™s a dangerously effective new version of the millennial MAGA politician ready to tear down the institutions of government in pursuit of an ultraconservative revolution. To others, sheโ€™s something more, the vanguard of a potentially significant turn in American politics. Luna is less a politician who parlayed her seat in Congress into a huge online followingโ€”like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezโ€”than the other way around: the first social media influencer to parlay an online audience into a seat in Congress.

By Eric Cortellessa

Read Full Article on Time.com

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