What a week it’s been for Braxton Winston.
If winning an at-large seat on Charlotte City Council weren’t enough, he awoke on Thursday to learn that Chelsea Clinton – yeah, that Chelsea Clinton – had used her first 280-character tweet to compliment him in a message aimed at President Donald Trump.
The tweet, sent out on Clinton’s verified Twitter account, said, “Mr. President, @BraxtonWinston is a superb example of an actual “very fine” person. And, yes I know he won an election in Charlotte, not Charlottesville. Still, please learn more about him @realDonaldTrump @potus (My first #280charactertweet. Please understand @chrissyteigen!)
Mr. President, @BraxtonWinston is a superb example of an actual “very fine” person. And, yes I️ know he won an election in Charlotte, not Charlottesville. Still, please learn more about him @realDonaldTrump @potus (My first #280charactertweet. Please understand @chrissyteigen!) pic.twitter.com/6OpNyLiHpg
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) November 9, 2017
The tweet was an apparent reference to controversial remarks Trump made in August when he said some of the people who marched with neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia, were “very fine people.” Trump’s comments drew widespread rebuke.
In an interview with Qcitymetro, Winston said he was shocked to learn of Clinton’s tweet.
“Honestly, brother, I woke up this morning and that happened,” he said. “I don’t know where it came from. I don’t know how she found out about me…but I’m kind of blown away, to be completely honest.”
Braxton said he was driving his kids to school when “my phone just started going crazy, and it’s been non-stop all day.”
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Winston speculated that Clinton might have learned of his election-day win after a photo of him began to go viral following a day of sweeping wins for Democrats nationwide. In that photo, a shirtless Winston is seen with raised fist, facing down a line of CMPD officers in riot gear, during last year’s protests in Charlotte following the police killing of Keith Lamont Scott.
In her tweet, Clinton retweeted a post by SB Nation Senior Editor Nate Scott, which included that photo. Winston said he and Scott attended high school together.
“It’s been pretty crazy,” Winston said.
