Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) became a trending topic this weekend for a time-bending tweet that he quickly deleted and updated honoring an Idaho native who served “in the Vietnam War” — but “was killed in action aboard the USS Oklahoma in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.”
“Today, Navy Fireman 2nd Class Carl Bradley returned to rest in Shelley. He left Idaho to serve in the Vietnam War. He was killed in action aboard the USS Oklahoma in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, & his remains found earlier this year. May we remember his eternal sacrifice,” Crapo wrote in his initial tweet.
Of course, Crapo’s words made no sense. The Vietnam War was fought between 1955 and 1975, at least 14 years after the events of Pearl Harbor.
Naturally, Twitter was quick to catch his mistake, screenshotting the tweet for posterity. “How does a sailor who left home to fight in Vietnam die during the attack on Pearl Harbor?” Andrew Feinberg asked.
Where Feinberg was a bit subtler in his dig, others definitely weren’t, and really leaned into the time travel aspect of it all. “Left for Vietnam and died in Pearl Harbor. That’s some real Quantum Leap s— if I ever saw it,” one couple’s account tweeted.
Others wondered why this time traveling ability has been kept hidden from the public. “Crapo has evidence of a Vietnam to Pearl Harbor Time Machine. Why wasn’t this in the UFO Report?” one person tweeted.
Crapo did delete his mistake and posted a corrected version, omitting mention of the Vietnam War altogether.
“Today, Navy Fireman 2nd Class Carl Bradley returned to rest in Shelley. 80 years ago, he left to serve his country. He was killed in action aboard the USS Oklahoma in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, & his remains found earlier this year. May we remember his eternal sacrifice,” Crapo posted.
But, if there’s one rule of the internet, it’s that Twitter doesn’t forget.