A prominent supporter of former president Donald Trump mocked an infamous young Black lynching victim in response to critiques from Democrats that Republicans are “weird.”
In a post on Tuesday, ex-Trump speechwriter Darren J. Beattie, a conspiracy theorist with known ties to white nationalism, made reference to Emmett Till, an African American teenager who was lynched in 1955 after allegedly offending a white woman.
“Emmet Till was weird,” Beattie wrote, misspelling his name.
Beattie’s remark is in reference to an increasingly popular talking point from Democrats and their supporters that Republicans are simply weird. The seemingly minor jab has been surprisingly successful in riling up conservatives, who now believe that the critique is part of a CIA-led operation against them.
“The reaction from these people to the ‘weird’ thing is like pulling out a gun and shooting your friend after he pinches you on St Patrick’s for not wearing green,” one user said of the post.
Others simply expressed shock at Beattie’s callous comment.
“yeah, you’re really proving how not weird & racist you all are with this kind of stuff,” another added.
Some argued that the best thing to do was take a step back and let Trump supporters such as Beattie show their true colors.
“Please keep posting like this under your real name and credentials to 200k+ followers. You guys are doing great work,” one user said.
But Beattie’s post seems to have rubbed at least some conservatives the wrong way. A few users in his replies pushed back.
“That’s taking it too far,” one user responded. “Emmett was a kid.”
The majority, however, celebrated Beattie’s post with racist commentary. Beattie’s followers also started chiming in by making statements such as “George Floyd was weird.”
“Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin were weird,” one user said.
Beattie’s apparent anger is unsurprising though, given that Vance has been the primary target of the “weird” accusations and Beattie’s been lobbying for him for to be on Trump’s ticket.
Months ago, Beattie penned a piece dubbing him Trump’s “secret weapon,” comparing Vance’s ability to further Trump’s goals after he potentially leaves office to establishing a new Holy Roman Empire.
Beattie’s comment has been viewed more than 332,000 times since it was shared.
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