海角大神

He eats microwave meals, weed-whacks his neighborhood鈥檚 overgrown grass, rides a Harley and the Washington Metro 鈥� and earlier this year traveled to the Ukrainian capital to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Welcome to the glamorous life of a United States senator, courtesy of Angus King鈥檚 Instagram feed.

鈥淗ere鈥檚 one of [Democratic Sen.] Tammy Duckworth in Baghdad,鈥� he says, scrolling through his account after a Monitor reporter asked him about it.聽I鈥檝e got a new hero, he wrote after watching the former Black Hawk helicopter pilot circle the place where she had been shot down 15 years earlier, losing both legs.

鈥淭here I am ,鈥� says the Maine independent, adding that it鈥檚 important for people to realize that senators do yardwork and use airports.聽

Wait, what 鈥� no private jet?聽

Far from it.聽

@anguskingmaine

Normally Senator King flies coach back to Maine, but when his flight was canceled (after sitting on the runway for more than an hour) in June 2019, he joined up with four other passengers he'd never met and drove a rental car through the night, taking turns driving and chipping in for gas.

鈥淥ne of the funniest ones was when my plane got grounded in Washington,鈥� he says, coming across a June 2019 post when he banded together with two software engineers, a college professor, and a lawyer he鈥檇 never met to make the trip back home. 鈥淲e rented a car and drove overnight,鈥� he says. That post prompted one of his biggest responses ever, he says.聽聽

The Maine senator may not be the king of Instagram 鈥撀爃e has just 32,400 followers, compared with, say, the 8.5 million of New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. His down-to-earth approach is more the speed of Maine lobstermen trolling for crustaceans than politicos scrolling for scuttlebutt. But in a way that resonates with many amid the craggy coasts and whispering pines of Maine, his understated commentary on Washington and the people he represents challenges the pervasive cynicism about politicians and their polarizing use of platforms from Twitter to TikTok.聽

鈥淵ou would almost look at it and think it鈥檚 not even a politician鈥檚 social media account. It could just be someone who visits D.C. often,鈥� says Andrew Selepak, a social media professor at the University of Florida. 鈥淏ut I think that鈥檚 probably a bit reflective of him as a politician.鈥澛�

@anguskingmaine

"Another in the Glamorous Life of a U.S. Senator series," joked Senator King six months into the pandemic, when he posted this photo of himself trimming the strip of grass between the sidewalk and the street in front of his Washington home. It was a good excuse to get out of the house after endless Zoom meetings.

In an industry often associated with big egos and a myopic focus on one鈥檚 own interests, Senator King shows an aptitude for thoughtful observation. He takes an almost childlike delight in discovering a view of the Washington Monument through a crack in the elevator doors, thanks to a window in the Senate elevator shaft that he never noticed. He revels in or a lined by snow-dusted evergreens that provide a respite from politics.

And he defies the downward pull of the social media vortex, pulling back the curtain on the humanity of his colleagues on both sides of the aisle 鈥� Virginia Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine playing the harmonica and Mississippi Republican Roger Wicker singing 鈥淗ark! The Herald Angels Sing鈥� 鈥� while also being frank about their disagreements.

Not everyone is a fan; when聽he posted a taken from the Capitol after a 25-hour nonstop session to pass the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan in March 2021, one commenter wrote, 鈥淲HY DID YOU VOTE AGAINST RAISING THE MINIMUM WAGE HOW OUT OF TOUCH ARE YOU.鈥� The senator pointed him to a statement on his website.聽Hope it helps explain, he added.聽

Indeed, beyond the and , there is often a substantive and sober tone 鈥� whether he鈥檚 warning about climate change or musing about the health of our democratic institutions.聽

Early in his career, he worked as a staffer on the Hill in the 1970s, when senators lived in town with their families and got to know each other. Now most leave on Thursday afternoons and don鈥檛 come back until late Monday.聽Apart from the bipartisan Senate prayer breakfast, there are hardly ever any opportunities to just get to know each other, explains the former Democrat who switched to independent when he ran for governor in 1994, but still caucuses with the Democratic Party in Congress. So he started hosting impromptu dinners, picking up ribs, beans, and coleslaw and inviting a few fellow senators 鈥� some Democrats, some Republicans 鈥撀爋ver to his 908-square-foot home in Washington.聽

@anguskingmaine

Sen. Angus King featured this photo of dirty dishes in a 2018 Instagram post about his efforts to get to know congressional colleagues by inviting them to meals.

鈥淵ou can almost see the wheels turning and see the person say, 鈥極h, this person isn鈥檛 the monster I thought they were,鈥欌�� says Senator King in a hallway interview in May, a few weeks after holding his first post-pandemic dinner.聽

But he runs out of time looking for the post he really wanted to share 鈥撀燼 photo of dirty dishes after one such gathering before the pandemic. It was his creative way of capturing the moment without infringing on the privacy necessary to foster bipartisan ties.

, further down in his feed, April 23, 2018: a takeout container with a couple of ribs sitting atop aluminum foil, a nearly empty jar of sauce, and dirty plates crammed onto a small counter.聽

What you see here is the remains of tonight鈥檚 edition of my personal project to make a dent in this unfortunate reality,聽he wrote, explaining how the lack of trust聽makes it hard to reach the compromises necessary to get things done.

鈥淏eautiful dishes, sad truth,鈥� commented one follower.聽

Another took a more hopeful view: 鈥淭hank you for bringing sanity to Washington.鈥�