ATTORNEY GENERAL and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, S.C., has pushed back against recent media narratives surrounding social media statements made by members of the United States Congress, arguing that tweets by lawmakers often reflect firm and informed policy positions of the U.S. government.

He made these remarks while speaking on Tuesday’s episode of his weekly show ‘Issues in the News”, during which he referenced two posts to X (formerly Twitter) published over consecutive days by a U.S. Congressman and Congresswoman that have drawn political attention here.

Against this backdrop, he noted that these social media posts should be taken seriously as they often contain substantive expressions of the views of the U.S. administration.
“We have had experiences here in Guyana of U.S. politicians of the highest rank, beginning from the President right down, have used the social media Twitter to disseminate information,” Nandlall said.

He added this might have been something that President Donald Trump made popular as he started same and many other important government functionaries of the United States have expressed positions via that social media platform.

He further noted that, “These tweets… contain important policy positions of the United States. Our experiences have proven that.”
Citing historical examples, the Attorney General pointed to the pivotal role Twitter played during Guyana’s 2020 electoral impasse, when members of the then Donald Trump administration and U.S. lawmakers took to social media to denounce what was described as attempts to subvert the democratic process.

“During the elections… while attempts were made by the then government, APNU+AFC, to rig those elections… important American government functionaries, including several congressmen and possibly congresswomen, tweeted America’s position, condemning their attempts, calling upon then President Granger and the government to accept the results,” he recalled.
The Attorney General added that at that time, sanctions were even threatened against that government via tweets from the then U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo.
Nandlall emphasised that this precedent demonstrates the weight and official intent behind such communications. “Whether an American Congressman or woman tweets… they don’t parrot a position. They’re not rubber stamps. They express a policy position,” he stated. “They make important disclosures via this media platform.”
Against this backdrop, he responded to the criticisms in sections of the media here, suggesting that a lobbying firm may have orchestrated the tweets on behalf of the government of Guyana.
He expressed deep concern over the implication made by those persons that U.S. lawmakers are without independence or integrity.

“Rather than them concentrating or reporting on what the tweets say, their focus seems to be on some lobbying company that they are accusing of being paid by the Government of Guyana to prepare these tweets,” Nandlall said. “Are they suggesting that the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Congressmen and women are a bunch of rubber stamps? That these people have no integrity, that they have no self-respect?”

He added, “Is that the respect and the integrity that they believe Congressmen and women are possessed of, or the lack of integrity? I find this extremely shocking.”