Some lies spread like wildfire.
A video of two Republican lawmakers from Missouri setting off a flamethrower went viral over the weekend as users falsely claimed the state senator was burning books.
Missouri Sens. Bill Eigel and Nick Schroer were filmed firing flamethrowers at a pile of empty cardboard boxes at a local GOP fundraiser Friday night after they were asked to show off the equipment, which was being raffled off at the event.
However, users on X, formerly known as Twitter, reshare the clip with an additional caption: “Missouri Republicans on literal book burning. They think flamethrowers should be legal but the history books should be destroyed.”
The tweet with the additional — and inaccurate — text received more than 19 million views on Wednesday and was immediately pounced upon by Democrats such as Missouri State Rep. Crystal Quade who is running for governor of the “Show-Me” State against Eigle.
“If you agree we need more books, not less & cooler, fewer flamethrowers, I hope you’ll join our campaign,” Quade said in a tweetlinking to a donation page for his gubernatorial campaign.
But Republican lawmakers said the boxes they burned contained no books and that false claims had spread to French media.
“I said, ‘Well, I’m glad there’s no Bud Light can [in the burning stacks] because when this thing hits the media, it will be the story.’ I don’t know people are just going to make up what happened,” Schroer told FOX2 Now, referencing the Bud Light trans influencer controversy.
He said he and Eigel were soon attacked and compared to hate groups.
Missouri Sens. Bill Eigel and Nick Schroer can be seen shooting flamethrowers at empty cardboard boxes. X/@realjakejacks
“We were called Nazis, members of the KKK; every name under the sun,” he said.
Schroer also called out Quade for sharing the fake post.
“To have someone like Crystal Quade, the minority leader, take the bait of these people on social media and promote that fake news … I think Republicans and Democrats should agree not to spread division, to not spread hate and propaganda,” he told local station. “I think it’s a good time to reflect on the truth before I share an article, before I share a social media post.”
Senators Bill Eigel (left) and Nick Schroer said there were no books in the box that were burned from flamethrowers. Missouri Senate
Eigel instead fanned the flames around the incident by saying that even though he didn’t burn the book in the video, it doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have done it at a different time.
“You bring those obscene books into Missouri schools to try to brainwash our children, and I’ll burn them too – on the front lawn of the governor’s mansion,” he wrote on X.
His account was suspended for about five hours after he made the post.
The flame-throwing post went viral, garnering 19 million views on X — prompting Democrats to oust the two Republican lawmakers. X/@realjakejacks
Although no books were harmed in the making of the viral video, Missouri conservatives have pushed to ban books they deem inappropriate.
Last year, the state passed a law banning books with sexually explicit images from school libraries — which two state library associations say has led school districts to remove hundreds of books from their collections in a lawsuit.
With Postal wire
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
