Pajiba Logo
film / tv / celeb / substack / news / social media / pajiba love / about / cbr
film / tv / politics / news / celeb

#MoscowMitchMcConnell, And Also How the Left Is Just as Easily Tricked by Fake News

By Dustin Rowles | Politics | July 30, 2019

GettyImages-812747556.jpg
Header Image Source: Getty Images

If you are waking up this morning and checking Twitter, you’ll see three variations of #MoscowMitchMcConnell trending. Before we get to that, you’ll also note that “Obama and Biden” are trending.

Screen Shot 2019-07-30 at 8.53.32 AM.png

“Obama and Biden” are trending because of this tweet:

There’s a lot wrong with that tweet — Obama and Biden weren’t even Presidents during 9/11 — but primarily, what’s wrong with that tweet is that it’s made up. Dan Lyons is a comedy writer. That tweet is a joke. And it’s spreading as though it were true, in part because it’s not that hard to believe that Jim Jordan would say that, and in part because the left wants it to be true, and in part because it’s a funny tweet from a comedy writer. Lyons also wrote this tweet which, again, is not true:

Also, this one:

I’m not sure what that says about America right now. I mean, it’s not like Trump and his people haven’t made statements that are just as ridiculous — Trump just yesterday bragged about being “down there” after the 9/11 attacks, a statement we all know is untrue.

And it’s not like Trump supporters and other Republicans haven’t blamed Obama for other things that preceded him in office (Ted Cruz, for instance, once blamed Obama for the Wall Street Crash).

Glancing back over on Twitter, “Jim Jordan” is now trending, as well, and all because of a made-up quote by a comedian that a whole lot of people readily believed:

I know it’s fun to own the Republicans, but no one is owning anyone when you’re doing it by attributing a satirical, fabricated quote to him. You just kind of look silly for not looking up the source of the quote.

Anyway, the #MoscowMitchMcConnell hashtag is trending for an actual reason: Mitch McConnell, who has consistently blocked election security bills in the Senate put up by Democrats, got hot under the collar yesterday because people keep calling him #MoscowMitch (a nickname that MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough apparently coined, which makes it Joe Scarborough’s only positive contribution to society). McConnell went off on the Senate floor:

“I was called unpatriotic, un-American and essentially treasonous by a couple of left-wing pundits on the basis of bold-faced lies. I was accused of aiding and abetting the very man I’ve singled out as an adversary and opposed for nearly 20 years, Vladimir Putin. These pundits are lying, lying when they dismiss the work that has been done. They’re lying when they insist I have personally blocked actions which, in fact, I have championed and the Senate has passed. They are lying when they suggest that either party is against defending our democracy.”

“I’m not going to let Democrats and their water carriers in the media use Russia’s attack on our democracy as a Trojan horse for partisan wish list items that would not actually make our elections any safer.” “I’m not going to do that.”

He added, on Twitter:

I should note that the legislation that McConnell would not put on the floor — but that had passed the House — was a mere $600 million bill that called for updating voting equipment to require paper ballots and ensure that they remain disconnected from the Internet. Seems pretty basic, but McConnell won’t even put the bill up for debate.

Who is he protecting?


read next

Why Are We So Fascinated By the Rumours About Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood?