On Tuesday morning, a photo began making the rounds on social media showing Whoopi Goldberg wearing an incredibly disturbing tee shirt. The tee features President Trump shooting himself in the head, with the slogan “Make America Great Again” written underneath.
Some Twitter users were upset by the image, calling Goldberg “disgusting,” and “evil.” One user said: “Wonder if she’d mind if someone in her neighborhood wore that same shirt with her face on it? @WhoopiGoldberg.”
A quick jaunt through Twitter, however, revealed that the offensive tee shirt was a photoshop job. Goldberg even spoke about it on Tuesday’s episode of The View:
.@WhoopiGoldberg addresses an altered photo posted on social media of her at the Women’s March: “I would never wear this shirt.” pic.twitter.com/mhgiZJxjbT
— The View (@TheView) April 18, 2017
“I need to clear up a lie that was posted online this morning. A photo of me at the Women’s March has been photoshopped to show me wearing an offensive shirt against you know who. Even though I don’t care for this man, I would never wear the shirt that’s there. So here’s the actual footage of what I was actually wearing that day…”
Goldberg then showed video footage from the Women’s March, and the exact moment the photo was screen-grabbed.
She added:
“If you feel like that – if you feel like the sentiments on that shirt – grow a pair, and you wear it. But don’t put it on me because you think it’s easier because quite honestly I’ll tell you how I feel… don’t put stuff on me that I haven’t done.”
This sort of behavior – whether it be photoshopping a detestable image onto the tee shirt of a leftist celebrity, or deliberately misquoting a public figure – is childish and destructive.
The progressive movement is easily defeated on the battlefield of ideas, where conservatives are stocked with ample ammunition in the form of logic and reason. There’s no need to create and disseminate fictions about our opponents.
More than simply being childish, such behavior always backfires. When the fraud is eventually revealed, Republicans and conservatives at large become the target of public scorn. This furthers the progressive narrative that conservatives are liars who resort to smear attacks because their ideas cannot stand up to scrutiny. It doesn’t matter if the misinformation came from a single person, a non-conservative, or even a leftist – all conservatives are assigned blame.
Rather than dive into a lose-lose situation, let’s stick to the truth, and win with integrity. Also – check around for more than five seconds before sharing a meme.
