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Bill McEwen updated website photo 2024
By Bill McEwen, News Director
Published 5 years ago on
September 1, 2020

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Fresno firebrand conservative and county supervisor Steve Brandau said Monday afternoon that he was quitting Twitter cold turkey.

“I am deleting my account tonight and throwing away 2,000 followers,” he told me.

Indeed, a search today for his handle on the social media platform turned up crickets.

Portrait of GV Wire News Director Bill McEwen

Bill McEwen

Opinion

However, Brandau says he’s sticking with Facebook despite the rough and tumble atmosphere there. More on that in a moment.

Why Quit Twitter?

Given that social media helped Brandau rise from an anonymous small businessman to the Fresno City Council and then the Board of Supervisors, the question is, why leave Twitter?

His answer is what you find in divorce papers: irreconcilable differences.

“Checking Twitter, I’m getting angry before I’m even headed to work,” he said. “It’s not working for me anymore. There’s no real debate to be won on Twitter. There’s no true spirit of conversation. Just divisiveness.”

Brandau, true to his Tea Party roots, says his original plan was to declare his independence from Twitter on July 4.

“Reflecting on it, I didn’t want to act rashly,” he said. “But now I’d rather have an honest conversation than have my fans retweet me 12 times.”

Brandau: I Am as Guilty as Anyone Else

Brandau admits that he has fanned the local partisan divide on Twitter, a land of 1.3 billion accounts and 330 million active users — 48 million of which are bots.

“I’m worried about the future. The constant memes about the riots, the whole social upheaval. Nobody is listening to anybody else. Starting the day with 20 or 30 minutes of Twitter is starting the day on the wrong foot — for me, anyway.” — Fresno County Supervisor Steve Brandau

He’s trolled people, and frequently changed avatars. One moment, he’s wrapped himself in the Brexit flag, the next he’s poking environmentalists by adopting a portrait of Greta Thunberg. When tweeting about Gov. Gavin Newsom’s coronavirus shutdown orders — many of which Brandau has opposed — he’s used a portrait of Dr. Anthony Fauci as his avatar.

“I’ve done everything I’m walking away from,” Brandau said. “Sometimes, I think I’m being witty but the person on the receiving end doesn’t take it that way. Sometimes, my followers take it one step further than I meant it, and my opponents blast back. When somebody engages me, I might tell them to F-off.

“I’m worried about the future. The constant memes about the riots, the whole social upheaval. Nobody is listening to anybody else. Starting the day with 20 or 30 minutes of Twitter is starting the day on the wrong foot — for me, anyway.”

Why Stay on Facebook?

Brandau admits that Facebook contributes to America’s partisan divide, too. The difference between Facebook and Twitter for him, he said, is that “there’s a better chance” for meaningful dialogue among people of opposing views.

 “You have real people on Facebook, not somebody named God’s Warrior or Trump’s Captain like on Twitter.” — Steve Brandau

“You have real people on Facebook, not somebody named God’s Warrior or Trump’s Captain like on Twitter, ” he said. “There’s more opportunity for people to say, ‘I saw your video and I agree with your first point, but not your second point.’ I’ve had many real conversations on Facebook.”

Brandau said that he expects some local conservatives to criticize him for exiting Twitter, and that’s OK.

“I’m still a conservative warrior, but I want to do it from a different context now,” he said.

Parler is the so-called conservative version of Twitter touted by President Donald Trump’s campaign and Fox News hosts.

“People have said that I’m probably going over to Parler, but I’m not,” Brandau said.

 

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Bill McEwen,
News Director
Bill McEwen is news director and columnist for GV Wire. He joined GV Wire in August 2017 after 37 years at The Fresno Bee. With The Bee, he served as Opinion Editor, City Hall reporter, Metro columnist, sports columnist and sports editor through the years. His work has been frequently honored by the California Newspapers Publishers Association, including authoring first-place editorials in 2015 and 2016. Bill and his wife, Karen, are proud parents of two adult sons, and they have two grandsons. You can contact Bill at 559-492-4031 or at Send an Email

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