GOP senator keeps promise, shells out $20 after losing bet on Twitter

Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) on Wednesday kept his promise on paying out a bet made over Montana’s recent House special election.

Sean McElwee, a policy analyst at Demos Action, and Daines originally made a bet on May 8 over how many points then-GOP candidate Greg Gianforte would win in the Montana race for it’s lone House seat. 

{mosads}

The bet was made in a series of tweets, so when Daines lost he made sure to tweet at McElwee asking for his Venmo account — a smartphone app that lets users charge and transfer money to friends.

Shortly after, McElwee tweeted “OMG” alongside a screenshot of a Venmo receipt for $20 paid by “Steve”. The description for the receipt was “lost a bet.”

Daines later sent out a second tweet with a picture of himself typing on his cell phone and looking mock-disappointed as he sent the money.

What’s your venmo?

— Steve Daines (@SteveDaines) June 7, 2017

omg pic.twitter.com/J7y9v9RhLZ

— sean. (@SeanMcElwee) June 7, 2017

pic.twitter.com/MK9Q8Z5ud6

— Steve Daines (@SteveDaines) June 7, 2017

The Montana senator also tweeted #fatherof4 after a Politico reporter said he “is definitely the senator most likely to know how to Venmo.”

Daines’s office confirmed to The Hill Wednesday that the senator did send the money over Venmo, noting that Daines runs his own Twitter account.

Gianforte ultimately emerged victorious in Montana’s House special election last month, taking about 50 percent of the vote to Democrat Rob Quist’s 44 percent.

The Republican claimed victory despite being charged with a misdemeanor assault the day before the election.

Gianforte allegedly slammed The Guardian’s Ben Jacobs to the floor at the candidate’s campaign headquarters in Bozeman, Mont. after getting a question about the GOP’s ObamaCare repeal plan.

The Republican’s lawyers on Tuesday requested to delay his appearance in court while they negotiate a potential settlement. Gianforte was ordered to appear in court no later than Wednesday before the request.