Things aren’t so great for Matt Gaetz right now. Since March, it’s been public knowledge that he’s under federal investigation for his ties to an alleged sex trafficking ring. He also claimed he got scammed while buying a pricey boat. But on Memorial Day, he added another ignominious honor to his CV: He, and some other noted Republicans, got tricked into honoring the military service of JFK murderer Lee Harvey Oswald.
I was wondering why Lee Harvey Oswald was trending. Looks like @kenklippenstein decided to give some MAGAs a military history quiz on Memorial Day. Naturally, Matt Gaetz failed. Great tribute to the worst Marine in history, @mattgaetz pic.twitter.com/ZVaGnFgb8h
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) May 31, 2021
It’s all thanks to Intercept reporter Ken Klippenstein, who occasionally likes to troll noted rightwingers by asking them to retweet an image of one of his ancestors in uniform. Sometimes he claims it’s his grandpa, sometimes it’s his uncle. But it’s actually Oswald, who served in the Marines before perching inside a Dallas book depository and firing three shots at John F. Kennedy, making him one of four American presidents who’ve been assassinated.
On Monday, Klippenstein did it again, tagging a group of conservatives, writing, “My grandpa’s a big fan of yours and is a veteran, he would be thrilled if you could RT this photo of him for Memorial Day,” seeing who would fall for it. This time his victims were Gaetz, pundit and pardoned ex-con Dinesh D’Souza, and lobbyist Matt Schlapp.
Gaetz was quick to realize his error and delete the tweet. But it had already been screengrabbed and disseminated.
Since he deleted it super fast. No one forget that @mattgaetz was stupid enough to retweet a picture of Lee Harvey Oswald on #MemorialDay2021 pic.twitter.com/bOsfEmI2wf
— Progressive Rants Podcast (@ProgRantsPod) May 31, 2021
Matt Gaetz thinks Lee Harvey Oswald is an American hero. pic.twitter.com/VXGwzhC8Dl
— Tony K (@judgeyourself99) May 31, 2021
After Gaetz re-tweeted the image of Oswald, Klippenstein changed his handle to “Matt Gaetz is a pedo,” which for a while sat near the top of his Twitter feed.
https://twitter.com/jackseraphim1/status/1399493257340522498
But Gaetz wasn’t the only one who bit.
https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/1399510180178677761
my god, it’s a trifecta pic.twitter.com/yYYJ2psK11
— beth (@bethbourdon) May 31, 2021
To add insult to injury, people pointed out that none of the people retweeting a picture of JFK’s killer actually served in the military themselves.
These guys are so desperate to pander to veterans — especially when they themselves wouldn't be caught 500 yards from a recruiting center — they'll fall for this trick every single time… https://t.co/s8rznevhSd
— Tim Wise (@timjacobwise) May 31, 2021
Candace Owens also got in on it. She didn’t fall for it. Rather, she accused Klippenstein of “photoshopping” Oswald into a uniform, evidently not knowing about his military service.
I think I made Candace Owens short circuit lmao pic.twitter.com/tHDCtcZ051
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) June 1, 2021
Again, Klippenstein does this a lot. According to Raw Story:
In 2019, he tricked former Rep. Steve King (R-IA) into wishing a happy Independence Day to his “uncle,” fictional Marine Col. Nathan Jessup from “A Few Good Men,” and then for good measure, changed his Twitter name to “Steve King is a white supremacist” so that phrase would show up on the congressman’s page. And in 2020, he fooled former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell into bidding a happy Veterans Day to his “grandpa” Bill Calley, the war criminal behind the Mỹ Lai massacre.
https://twitter.com/KelenKeller38/status/1399492860269907970
So you’ll just have to wait and see who falls for this the next time Klippenstein does it.
(Via Raw Story)