Republican Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett has a distinctive approach to social media compared to most other members of Congress.
Many politicians meticulously game out their social media strategy, including crafting talking points with a communications team, finding the perfect backdrop for videos, filming numerous takes until it’s just right, and outsourcing posts to staff. Burchett, on the other hand, has embraced a stripped-back online presence that features his real-time thoughts on issues of the day. He holds his phone to record himself a bit like your Gen-X uncle might during a facetime call, and people like it.
The Daily Caller sat down with the native Tennessean in his D.C. office to ask him directly about his strategy and unfiltered social media presence on Wednesday. In a town where political “authenticity” is often manufactured, Burchett suggests he’s trying to give the world a truly unvarnished view of his day-to-day life on Capitol Hill.
Burchett’s content spans anywhere from a video of him talking and walking down the halls of Congress drinking a mountain dew, riding one of his longboards that he makes himself, to changing a tire or showing off his miniature donkeys back home in Tennessee.
Aww thanks. You are my Boo. https://t.co/8lUYDUDuNp
— Tim Burchett (@timburchett) July 16, 2025
“I started doing these videos and people were making fun of me, you know, they make fun of my voice, and, ‘I’ve heard nobody talks like that,’” Burchett said. “Well, I do. It’s not anything put on.”
Newest Custom Burchett Board inbound to @TulsiGabbard pic.twitter.com/66fikyIFPm
— Tim Burchett (@timburchett) July 16, 2025
He recalled asking other members of Congress about their staff and learning that they had an entire “Twitter team.” (RELATED: REP. TIM BURCHETT: Your Tax Dollars Are Going To The Taliban)
“These people would produce these videos that were identical to mine, but they would edit them,” he said. “And I thought, yeah — and you could tell it was unedited in mine, obviously. It’s just me walking down the [hall] when I’m ticked off or happy or just explaining the mundane stuff that’s going on.”
“Nobody’s talking about it, and I am,” Burchett added.
Burchett acts as the main arbiter of his content, often pulling out his phone to speak candidly about whatever’s on his mind.
“A little country woman came up to me and said, ‘I love you on the Instagram.’ The Instagram’s like the Walmart or something like that … and on the Facebook, ‘I follow all your videos on the Facebook,’” Burchett said.
“I said, ‘Thank you, ma’am,’” he said. “But I think it’s important to keep people informed”
Daily Caller reporter @BrasfieldAshley asked @timburchett what his advice for Gen Z men is.
His response👇 pic.twitter.com/7gVJGJn2Qt
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 16, 2025
People often stop Burchett while he’s traveling and thank him for the videos he posts to his X account, he noted.
“I’m not good looking, or all that smart and all that popular up here, but I go through airports and people thank me,” he said.
His videos have also resonated with younger voters. Burchett, age 60, said when he goes to University of Tennessee football games students will come up to him and ask for a “shameless selfie.”
Burchett feels the videos are helping him reach a new audience, explaining that even if people disagree with how he votes, he is “accessible” to his voters. (RELATED: GOP Derails Second Democrat Effort To Unearth Epstein Files)
He copped to speaking to a public relations professional early in his career — and, of course, every campaign has consultants — but Burchett noted that his authentic approach always seemed to win out over anything too polished.
“Apparently people like that,” he said.
Burchett speaks in a Tennessee drawl and often uses Southern witticisms, but always keeps it clean. The effect is endearing and likable.
“I don’t curse, I try not to curse. I have an 18-year-old daughter,” he continued. “I think everybody’s just a foul-mouthed dirtbag.”
Burchett has gone viral several times for his amusing zings at his “tracker” — a term used to describe someone typically employed by a politician’s opponents to follow them around with a camera and ask challenging questions or try to catch them in misdeeds.
Some have accused Burchett of staging the interactions for social media clout, but the congressman clarified that he believes the tracker made famous in his social media posts is an independent private media contractor.
“Apparently he’s not there anymore, another tracker told me he got a promotion,” Burchett revealed. “I ain’t paying anybody, anything. It’s just organic and sometimes little quips come to me.”
My stalker/tracker almost got me yesterday. pic.twitter.com/zDT3355nt5
— Tim Burchett (@timburchett) March 28, 2025
“I try not to be too cruel to the guy because I am a Christian. I’m not a very good one — my chosen profession kind of exemplifies that,” Burchett joked.
“I’m just forgiving, and I weigh that against really just popping him hard, because he is just doing his job,” he continued, “even though he’s obnoxious and he’s not a very happy human.”
Burchett explained that he’s offered the tracker “cold drinks and stuff” because he is worried about him “sitting up here, sweating and all that.”
“I remember one day he said, ‘I’m not talking to you,’ and I said, ‘Dude, I made you a national star,’” Burchett quipped.
Burchett also has learned from past experiences in what he called the “Twitterverse,” explaining that he’s had scary incidents in public and has received disturbing messages from “enemies.” These encounters, the congressman said, have helped him to develop a thick skin and kill them with kindness. (RELATED: GOP Holdout Blasts CNN Host To Her Face For Network ‘Trying To Scare’ Americans About Big, Beautiful Bill)
“I’ve got my enemies with their 36 followers that hit me and they want me to respond. And if I respond, it exposes them to my 300,000 plus followers,” he stated. “They’ll attack me, and I’ll make up a little soliloquy. Something like, ‘Your beautiful words are like honey dew dripping off a tin roof.’”
“Of course, their heads explode when I do that,” he said.
When asked for one phrase that summarizes “Tim Burchett on social media,” the congressman replied:
“Blessed.”
