.@DLoesch has a message for the @nytimes: “We’re coming for you.” One
non-#fakenews story is not enough. #NRA #ClenchedFistofTruth pic.twitter.com/Hm1QkJi5Tp— NRATV (@NRATV) August 3, 2017
There is a new brouhaha over a new NRA ad featuring conservative personality Dana Loesch. It follows another controversial ad that was posted back in April and found more notoriety after the shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise. Many took the ad as call for violence against the press and the left, most specifically because of Loesch’s assertion “the only way we save our country and our freedom, is to fight this violence of lies with the clenched fist of truth.” The organization defended that ad, but now courted more controversy thanks to a second ad carrying the same tone. Also even though the tag “clenched fist” is back in the tweets and pointed at the New York Times, Loesch is saying she was misunderstood in another part of the video, with many thinking she is saying “fist” when she in fact she “fisk.” — a slang that means to rebut an argument point by point.
Why did @adamgoldmanNYT lie that I didn’t say “fisk” in my NYT ad? Because he has an axe to grind. Here Adam: https://t.co/YpmxQaLRZ7
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) August 4, 2017
Points to you Scrabble aficionados who already know that word, but it doesn’t stop many from being confused. A different word choice could’ve put some distance between her words and the tagline the NRA is using. Now Twitter is aflutter all over again about the intent of the ad, its vocabulary, and the effect it might have on gun owners disgruntled with liberals.
this @NRA video with @DLoesch is absolutely wild pic.twitter.com/mtT0iPjLpL
— america's lounge singer (@KrangTNelson) August 4, 2017
So, ad is titled clenched fist of truth…but you claim you never said the word fist? Makes perfect sense. You NRA people are real clever.
— Republican Failure 🇺🇸 (@josephandher) August 5, 2017
the # has fist in it. I wasn't the only person confused by it. Plus, say Fisk/fish/fist in a sentence with old hag at the end, same result.
— Gr3ySyndicate (@Gr3ySyndicate) August 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/ikebarinholtz/status/893845687250468864
https://twitter.com/zeroinscw/status/893674374674436096
A few thought it was ridiculously over the top, even campy:
Dana Loesch's 'performance' in that NRA ad was so bad it looked like an audition for one of those Geico commercials with Susan Lucci… pic.twitter.com/aYyIKao0bD
— TrumpsTaxes (@TrumpsTaxes) August 5, 2017
An NRA ad with Dana Loesch threatening to go after the person who finished the toilet paper and didn't put a new roll in.
— Hylian might (@Hylian_might) August 5, 2017
Some wanted to reiterate concerns about the ad’s aggressive tone, warning that it may insight violence.
#ClenchedFistofTruth The NRA ad is an open call to violence to protect white supremacy. If I made a video like this, I'd be in jail.
— Spam 4 Trump (@Spam4Trump) August 4, 2017
https://twitter.com/RevTMcK/status/893698617852272641
Here's an NRA member's take: I’m an old white guy and a life member, but this BS is disgusting,” –so, basically, you're full of it. https://t.co/w7rLlHrWT0
— Soledad O'Brien (@soledadobrien) August 5, 2017
I also like "a shot across the bow" and "we're coming for you" as having nothing to do with threats of violence
— Jesse Hawken (@jessehawken) August 5, 2017
The controversy has led to what is probably the greatest number of people to ever look up the definition of the word “fisk” since the term was conceived.
Oh. I didn't know that. The only fisk I'd heard of was lutefisk, and I couldn't imagine that being featured in an NRA ad.
— Bad Tempered Old Trout 🌠 (@BelmarCPA) August 5, 2017
the whole "fisk or fist" controversy is a little besides the point which is that the NRA ad is BATSHIT CRAZYPANTS
— Banshees of Atlantic City (@Notgiamatti) August 5, 2017
A joke is not funny if explanation is required.
This NRA ad lost its intended effect with Dana having to explain fisk vs. fist.
— Queens Fort (@Bellyhungry) August 5, 2017
And at least one viewer said the ad had the opposite effect the NRA intended.
https://twitter.com/LanceWhitney6/status/893833284676796417
The irony is that now everyone is fisking Loesch and the ad in a way they might not have if she had left well enough alone and stuck with the original wording that, if violent, was at least honest.