Some lies spread like wildfire.
A video of two Republican Missouri lawmakers firing flamethrowers went viral over the weekend when users falsely claimed the state senators were burning books.
Missouri Senators Bill Eigel and Nick Schroer were filmed firing flamethrowers into a stack of empty cardboard boxes at a local Republican Party fundraiser Friday night after they were asked to demonstrate the equipment, that was being raffled off at the event.
However, a user of X, formerly known as Twitter, shared the clip with the added caption: “Missouri Republicans at a literal book burning. “They think flamethrowers should be legal but the history books should be destroyed.”
The tweet with the added (and inaccurate) text received more than 19 million views on Wednesday and was quickly seized on by Democrats like Missouri state Rep. Crystal Quade, who is running for governor of the “Show Me” state against Eigle.
“If you agree that we need more books, not fewer, cooler heads and fewer flamethrowers, I hope you’ll contribute below to join our campaign,” Quade he said in a tweetlinking to a donation page for her gubernatorial campaign.
But Republican lawmakers said the boxes that were set on fire did not contain books and that the false accusations have spread even to the French media.
“I said, ‘Well, I’m glad there are no Bud Light boxes [in the burning stacks] because once this hits the media, it’s going to be the story. “I didn’t know people would just make up what was happening,” Schroer told FOX2 Now, referencing the controversy over Bud Light’s trans influence.
He said he and Eigel soon came under fire and compared to hate groups.
Missouri Senators Bill Eigel and Nick Schroer can be seen firing flamethrowers at empty cardboard boxes. X/@realjakejacks
“They called us Nazis, members of the KKK; every name under the sun,” he said.
Schroer also criticized Quade for sharing the fake post.
“For someone like Crystal Quade, the minority leader, to 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, not to spread hate and propaganda.” , he told the local station. “I think this is the perfect time to reflect on what is true before you share an article, before you share a post on social media.”
Senators Bill Eigel (left) and Nick Schroer said there were no books inside the boxes set on fire by the flamethrowers. Missouri Senate
Instead, Eigel fueled the fire surrounding the incident by saying that although he didn’t burn books in the video, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t do it at another time.
“If you bring those pornographic books into Missouri schools to try to brainwash our children, I will burn them too, on the front lawn of the governor’s mansion,” he wrote in X.
His account was suspended for about five hours after making the post.
The flame-throwing post went viral, garnering 19 million views on X, prompting Democrats to attack the two Republican lawmakers. X/@realjakejacks
While no books were harmed during the making of the viral video, Missouri conservatives have been pushing for a ban on books they consider inappropriate.
Last year, the state passed a law banning books with sexually explicit images in school libraries, which two state library associations say has caused school districts to remove hundreds of books from their collections in a lawsuit.
With postal cables
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Source: vtt.edu.vn