ST. LOUIS — Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones have taken their differences on mask mandates and police issues to social media in recent weeks, where they’ve engaged in a rhetorical back-and-forth that shows no signs of abating.
For example, , 46, on Thursday accused Jones on Twitter of “waging a war on law enforcement.â€
“We need more police officers not fewer,†he posted, an apparent reference to the mayor’s move earlier this year to eliminate money in the city police budget for long-vacant positions.
, 49, in a tweet Dec. 7 accused Schmitt of “literally trying to kill us†with his letter to school districts and health agencies telling them to stop coronavirus mask orders he contends are illegal and ineffective.
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The online squabble in recent weeks between the Republican attorney general and Democratic mayor, who served together in the Missouri Legislature from 2009 to 2013, reflects sharp differences in policy and politics.
The two also have squared off in court. Schmitt in July filed a lawsuit to try to get a judge to throw out the city’s indoor mask mandate; the case is pending in St. Louis Circuit Court.
Jones’ administration, meanwhile, earlier this month launched a court challenge of a new state law spelling out and expanding the rights of police officers statewide when they face internal investigations. That issue is before a judge in Jefferson City.
Ken Warren, a political science professor at St. Louis University, said Schmitt and Jones are playing to their parties’ respective political bases with their strong words.
“It doesn’t promote anything that’s good for politics or the state of Missouri,†Warren added. “Let’s face it: The politics in both parties is very, very polarized.â€
Warren said the Twitter battle is “more meaningful to Schmitt because he’s running in 2022†for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination. Jones is in the first year of her four-year term.
Warren said Schmitt, who is from Glendale in St. Louis County, is attacking Jones because as mayor she is “the symbol of St. Louis.†He said that will play well with rural voters in the GOP primary next August.
“They look at it as a very liberal Democratic bastion and something they cannot relate to,†Warren said.
Thursday’s Twitter flap began when Schmitt in a tweet noted that the mayor of San Francisco, London Breed, is “calling BS on the Defund the Police movement,†and included a recent video of Breed announcing new, more aggressive law enforcement efforts in her city.
He then made his remark about the mayor of St. Louis waging war on law enforcement.
Jones, in response, retweeted political commentator Roland Martin’s tweet stating Schmitt “has said NOTHING about ... racist, thug cops in St. Louis who have been brutalizing citizens for YEARS.†That’s who Jones is battling, Martin added.
A few hours later, Jones addressed Schmitt in a tweet, telling him “to feel free to tag me next time you wanna talk about me or what I’m doing. Also, you have my number anytime you want to talk TO me about ways to reduce crime in the city. Come to my hood and talk to my people.â€
Later, Jones’ communications director, Nick Desideri, chimed in, tweeting that Jones “gets results,†noting that homicides are down in the city.
He then said that “the AG chases clout, going after her to cover up his years of working across the aisle in Jeff City†with Democrats.
Jones’ Dec. 7 tweet alleging Schmitt is “trying to kill us†referred to a KSDK (Channel 5) reporter’s tweet about Schmitt’s directive to school and health officials.
Schmitt responded later that day, saying “you’re the mayor of the murder capital of the United States, violent crime rages on and you want to defund the police and yet you’re obsessed with the forced masking of 5 year olds. Your administration and priorities are a total disaster.â€
Jones then responded in a tweet that gun violence in Missouri skyrocketed “after your party voted to relax gun laws†in the Legislature and blocked cities from passing local-level gun control.
“The blood is on your hands, Boo,†Jones concluded.
In some other tweets in recent weeks:
• Schmitt on Dec. 4, referring to a Post-Dispatch article on the city’s suit trying to strike down the police officer rights law, said the mayor’s “war against the police continues.â€
• Jones, in noting a Post-Dispatch article on a St. Louis judge telling court employees to get vaccinated or tested, tweeted: “Hey @Eric_Schmitt! Are you going to sue the courts next?â€
• Schmitt on Tuesday criticized a Board of Aldermen-passed resolution extending the St. Louis mask order, repeating his argument made in court that the order can’t be continued because it already had expired. “It’s an illegal order,†he tweeted.
Jones responded Wednesday: “Tell me you don’t understand the City Charter and MO Constitution without telling me you don’t understand the City Charter and MO Constitution.â€
A week earlier, Jones in a tweet endorsed another’s suggestion that mask supporters email to Schmitt photos of themselves in masks. “Let’s flood his inbox! Email your selfies with your mask on to the #SueBully,†the mayor tweeted.
Nick Dunne, a spokesman for Jones, said the mayor tweets so often about Schmitt because “she has serious concerns†about the effect “his messaging will have on health outcomes of the city and of Missouri.â€
Dunne said most of the mayor’s Twitter activity is before and after her regular work hours. He also said she has never used the phrase “defund†the police.
Schmitt, in a statement released by his campaign, said “for too long, the corporate media has failed to hold Mayor Jones accountable for her destructive, liberal policies.
“I will continue to hold the mayor accountable — by any medium possible — for her efforts to keep the forced masking of five year olds in place against science and any other future misguided policy that is destructive to the city of St. Louis.â€
Originally posted at 8 p.m. Thursday.
