NY War Room: ICYMI – MAGA Mike Lawler Banned For Life From Wikipedia

New York, NY – In an embarrassing but predictable exposé, MAGA Mike Lawler has been banned from Wikipedia for life for editing his own page a total of 26 times.  

Taking a page straight out of George Santos’ playbook, Mike Lawler embellished his Wikipedia resume by adding himself to his alma mater’s notable alumni page and beefing up his congressional accomplishments. 

Mike Lawler’s spokesperson refused multiple requests for comment on the congressman’s online editing hobby.

“We have finally uncovered how Mike Lawler keeps busy when he is not pushing the radical MAGA agenda with his fringe right-wing friends in Congress,” said HMP New York Press Secretary Dora Pekec. “If Mike Lawler is looking for edits to his Wikipedia page, here are some we suggest: Mike Lawler voted to cut veterans’ benefits, slash education funding, defund public safety, kill manufacturing, cut Medicaid — and he will lose in 2024.”

Enjoy some highlights from the article below:

“Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) is a notable alumnus of Manhattan College—at least according to the Bronx liberal arts school’s Wikipedia page.

The congressman, a former state lawmaker who upset Democratic campaign chief Sean Patrick Maloney last year, may boast a resume that merits the honor. But it wasn’t the Wikipedia hive mind that put Lawler on the notable alumni list; it was apparently Lawler himself.

The edit, made two years ago, was far from a one-off. The longtime GOP operative was a prolific editor of his own Wikipedia content. Lawler made 26 changes in total—which earned him a warning from site administrators that he was violating policy by editing his own content, and then an outright ban when Lawler did not heed the warning.

A spokesperson for Lawler did not respond to multiple requests for comment or to confirm the account personally belonged to Lawler.

But the account’s username—MichaelVLawler—is the same username Lawler uses on his personal Facebook and YouTube accounts. He also previously used “@michaelvlawler” on Twitter before changing the handle.

According to open source Wikipedia records, the edits were all made in 2021, while Lawler was serving as a New York assemblyman. Beyond authoring his self-made jump to his alma mater’s notable alumni, he made several more straightforward changes to his Wikipedia page.

Lawler added electoral statistics from his victory in 2020 over a Democratic assembly incumbent, buffed up his resume to note that he “serves as the Ranker of the Government Operations Committee and as a member of the Aging, Banks, Education, and Housing Committees,” and changed his name on the page in one instance from “Mike Lawler” to “Michael V. Lawler.”

He also added some links—like one to his campaign website, and one of him giving a “valedictory address” at Manhattan College, per the description from his YouTube. (He graduated from the college in 2009.)

The edits might seem fair game, if a touch self-aggrandizing. But where Lawler ran into trouble with Wikipedia was editing information about himself, which the site dubs as a conflict of interest and a violation of official policy.

In May 2021, Lawler’s account was flagged with a warning of the potential conflict of interest.

“We welcome your contributions, but if you have an external relationship with the people, places or things you have written about on the page Michael Lawler, you may have a conflict of interest (COI),” the notice stated. “Editors with a conflict of interest may be unduly influenced by their connection to the topic.”

Lawler was told not to make any more edits about himself, but continued to do so that August. His account was ultimately banned that same month from making any more edits to his page—or to any other page on the site.

The ban has not been lifted and is listed as having no set expiration date. A number of Lawler’s edits have also been reverted.

On Capitol Hill, Lawler is considered a rising star in the GOP ranks, after winning a difficult race in 2022 against a formidable opponent. His victory—along with a series of other flips in New York—was essential to Republicans taking the majority in the House. Since being elected, Lawler has positioned himself in the moderate wing of the fractured Republican conference, and has been a staunch ally to Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Despite Lawler’s ban, legitimate edits to his Wikipedia page have continued as his career and list of actions in Congress builds. The upcoming election cycle will be a pivotal one for him; as one of 18 Republicans representing districts Joe Biden won in 2020, Lawler is one of Democrats’ top targets.”
 

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