NBC analyst Howard Fineman deleted a Twitter photo Thursday morning after being “ratio’d” for it from both sides of the aisle.
Tonight I tweeted a pic of a Georgetown party hosted by @maureendowd, attended by @SpeakerPelosi, @SenSchumer and DC journos. In the old days it would’ve been a benign big-shot brag. No more. It was viciously ratio’d by left and right. I deleted it. All establishments are hated.
— Howard Fineman (@howardfineman) July 25, 2019
“Ratio” in Twitter parlance refers to a tweet that receives overwhelmingly negative response, usually indicated by many more comments than likes or retweets.
The original tweet had a photo depicting Fineman at a D.C. party with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Complaints came from those who criticized the party as emblematic of the incestuous relationship between politicians and the press in the nation’s capital.
Fineman’s off the guest list pic.twitter.com/voF6vxoVjd
— Mike Schuster (@mcs212) July 25, 2019
And that, my child, is why America collapsed. Because the ones tasked with holding truth to power were dazzled by the glitter, intoxicated by the proximity to something they’ll never have. To Howard Fineman, and all the other fluffer-stenographers of the ruling class, eat shit. pic.twitter.com/bi5i6Jg3by
— Xeni (@xeni) July 25, 2019
Other critiques addressed the Democratic leaders’ lack of urgency to get things done in Congress.
.@SpeakerPelosi went from the press conference on the Hill yesterday to a cocktail party with Maureen Dowd.
So we can rest assured she and @SenSchumer understand the gravity of the threat our nation is facing and have a real sense of urgency.
(Fineman later deleted this tweet.) pic.twitter.com/9ZBIhSNudq
— Leah McElrath ?️? (@leahmcelrath) July 25, 2019
The original tweet being “viciously ratio’d” prompted Fineman, who claimed that the negative response indicated that “all establishments are hated,” to delete the original photo.