Using our Penta Live monitoring platform, we sifted through over 85,000 X (formerly Twitter) posts from members of Congress between July 1, 2023 and September 12, 2023. Known for conservative views, we wanted to test whether the Freedom Caucus posts proportionally more than other caucuses on certain topics and phrases on X.
Republicans tweet less than Democrats on average, but the Freedom Caucus may be the most active of any party.
Although it has a relatively small number of members, the Freedom Caucus is highly visible and active on X—the average caucus member tweeted nearly 161 times between July 1, 2023, and September 12, 2023.
Relatively closely behind is the Progressive Caucus with 153 tweets per member with the other three caucuses analyzed trailing behind.
Despite Democrats tweeting more overall, Republicans make up the majority of mentions of terms related to social issues.
Members of the New Democrat and Progressive Caucuses focused more on terms such as “abortion” and emphasized the importance of access to healthcare. Their tweets about abortion were also frequently critical of state-level policies and proposed legislation regarding abortion.
Meanwhile, members of the Freedom Caucus make up a disproportionate amount of mentions of “woke”—often discussing pushing back against the “woke” agenda in some fashion. This group also mentions “censor” at a higher rate than others. Mentions of “censor” are typically about technology companies and the Biden Administration, including alleged collusion between the two.
Democrats’ and Republicans’ differing viewpoints were on full display as both parties sought to highlight different aspects of the economy.
While both parties focused on “inflation”, Republicans often mentioned “tax” and often criticized what they view as a misuse of taxpayer dollars, while “jobs” was a major topic for Democrats as they highlighted strong jobs numbers.
Republican members also mentioned “Bidenomics” more frequently than their Democratic counterparts, nearly always to criticize the state of the economy.
