Twitter removes 'violent' tweet from Nancy Pelosi's daughter about Rand Paul

Christine Pelosi slams Kentucky senator for failing social distancing measures before positive coronavirus diagnosis

Nancy Pelosi's daughter was briefly locked out of her Twitter account after the social media company determined her message about Republican Senator Rand Paul amounted to "glorification of violence".

On Sunday, political strategist Christine Pelosi wrote that "Rand Paul's neighbour was right" after the Kentucky Republican tested positive for coronavirus and revealed he had continued his regular routine while waiting for results, potentially exposing others to the virus.

In 2017, the senator's neighbour in Bowling Green, Kentucky was sentenced to 30 days in jail after breaking five of the senator's ribs, which forced doctors to remove a part of his lung. He also had pneumonia.

Twitter rules state that users cannot "glorify, celebrate, praise or condone violent crimes, violent events where people were targeted because of their membership in a protected group, or the perpetrators of such acts" as well as "violent acts committed by civilians that resulted in death or serious physical injury".

The company removed her message for "violating the Twitter rules".

According to court records, Mr Boucher caught the senator blowing leaves onto his yard with a lawn mower, then ran towards him and tackled him.

Senator Paul's neighbour had said he "had enough" of the senator's garbage piling up against the property line. He said the attack was not politically motivated.

A jury also awarded the senator $375,000 in damages, another $200,000 for pain and suffering, and more than $7,000 in medical expenses.

Dr Deborah Birx, who leads the White House coronavirus task force, suggested that the senator failed to adhere to "social distancing" guidelines.

The senator was tested despite not showing any symptoms, against the warnings of health officials. But after his test, he had lunch with other lawmakers and used the Senate gym.

She said: "If he had been following these guidelines, he wouldn't have been infecting others because of the social distancing, washing your hands, doing everything that we talked about."

Senator Paul defended his actions after he was widely criticised for not adhering to those guidelines.

In an editorial for USA Today, he wrote: "I did not quarantine while awaiting a coronavirus test because I did not meet the criteria for quarantine ... In fact, I did not meet the current criteria for even being tested, much less quarantined. ... Instead of hounding people who got tested and then quarantined themselves, perhaps we need to broaden the testing and quit the finger-wagging."

His results led others to self-quarantine, including Utah Senator Mitt Romney.

Christine Pelosi's message shared a tweet from a reporter who echoed the Utah senator's concerns about unknowingly exposing the virus to more-vulnerable people — his wife Ann Romney has multiple sclerosis.

Washington Post reporter Paul Kane wrote: "He told us the other day his biggest personal concern was not getting this because his wife has MS. Now he can't see her for almost 2 weeks."

Senator Paul was the first member of the Senate to test positive for the virus. He was also the only senator to vote against bipartisan $8bn emergency relief legislation earlier this month.

He also reportedly delayed a round of votes on another piece of coronavirus legislation in the Senate this week after forcing an unwieldy amendment that would "require a Social Security number for purposes of the child tax credit, and to provide the president the authority to transfer funds as necessary, and to terminate United States military operations and reconstruction activities in Afghanistan".

The senator was criticised for appearing to call undocumented immigrants "non-people" after he said that only a "legitimate person" should be eligible for government assistance, and that one "should have to be a person" to receive aid.