And a bit little bit of DMV-induced humor, in a nutshell: a day on the ballpark and that snapshot of the congressman with Parker T. Bear set off a poison pen battle with myriad baseless dyspeptic accusations and private assaults hurled on the Democrat.
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Schiff had a significant function within the impeachment of former President Donald Trump and had posted the image with the caption, “Cheering on the Fresno Grizzlies yesterday. I even met Parker T. Bear!” The image had Schiff smiling beside the mascot, and in some other scenario, this could in all probability be met with lighthearted feedback or help. As a substitute, the replies listed below are largely mean-spirited and revive outdated conspiracy theories and accusations.
One contender for the harsher remark concluded with Schiff being known as a “traitor and a crooked man,” however one other one went the additional mile to say that Schiff “molested a younger man” and bribed him with taxpayers’ cash. Such accusations have been kicked round in right-wing circles for years however stay unsubstantial and unprovable in any authorized discussion board. Within the meantime, countless propositions had been made that Schiff should be jailed.
One sarcastic person questioned whether or not the mascot was “cringing inside that costume,” which was an oblique approach of expressing discomfort at being close to Schiff. Others cracked lewd jokes in regards to the incident, in search of to impress one person into commenting, “They should have a Glory Gap there.”
Among the many ugly feedback, some mentioned so absurdly a lot. For instance, one commenter, in a nonsensical digression about Democrats abandoning their allies, bizarrely introduced up Kilmar Abrego Garcia, from El Salvador-Who has nothing to do with Schiff or the Grizzlies. One other-who-wasn’t-even-really-sure-about-how-sports-work-wondered-if-Schiff-was-“happy-they-scored-a-touchdown”-though-this-was-a-baseball-game.
Others, nevertheless, weren’t so antagonistic. A lone feminine supporter simply mentioned, “I hope you had fun,” one stark distinction to the offended mob.
At such magnitude, the backlash solely reminds one of many deep polarization nonetheless gripping Schiff as a lightning rod for conservative criticism. With the majority of his high-profile investigations regarding alleged Russian interference within the 2016 election, nice effort has been put into spotlighting Schiff and his investigations by right-wing circles. The congressman has swept apart a lot of that rhetoric previously, but to see such overt political consciousness effectively up the slash on this publish would shock the very core of any sane observer.
Schiff has remained aloof and has declined to have interaction with any of the feedback. On the upside, the Fresno Grizzlies have but to have any feedback on the shocking political showdown ignited by a easy mascot picture.
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Another reminder of how even probably the most innocuous social media sharings immediately are used as an avenue of battle on this hyper-partisan setting. Whether or not these accusations meant something to Schiff’s critics or had been simply empty tumult stays to be seen, however what is bound is that comment-section has nothing to do with baseball anymore.