Former Congressman Joe Walsh has added his opinion to the outpouring of response to Charlie Hebdo’s latest cover, which depicts neo-Nazis drowning in Hurricane Harvey, along with the text “God Exists! He Drowned All the Neo-Nazis of Texas.”
“French rag Charlie Hebdo mocks Harvey victims as Neo Nazis,” Walsh said on Twitter Thursday morning. “Charlie Hebdo makes fun of everyone but Muslims. Cowards.”
French rag Charlie Hebdo mocks Harvey victims as Neo Nazis
Charlie Hebdo makes fun of everyone but Muslims. Cowards https://t.co/VUnXuN1ARy
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) August 31, 2017
Let’s take a step back here. In January 2015, the offices of Charlie Hebdo were attacked by terrorists tied with Al-Qaeda for mocking the Prophet Mohammed; 12 staffers died. The attack spurred the hashtags #IAmCharlie and #JeSuisCharlie at the time to show solidarity with the satirical magazine in their right to free speech.
This latest cover features an image of swastika flags and arms in the Nazi salute being submerged in rainwater. The hurricane and massive flooding in the Houston area has killed at least 31 people and left thousands stranded.
Twitter users were swift to condemn Walsh for his seemingly short-term memory loss. “The level of stupidity Joe Walsh has achieved is actually sublime: the Grand Canyon of idiocy,” one person said. “So there’s no possible way that Walsh tweet gets beat today right? That’s as dumb as it’s going to get right?” asked another.
Another Twitter user pointed out that as recently as last week, the magazine had a cover mocking Islam after the attack in Barcelona, in which a terrorist ran a van into a crowd of tourists.
See more reactions to Walsh’s ignorance below.
The level of stupidity Joe Walsh has achieved is actually sublime: the Grand Canyon of idiocy. https://t.co/zlcPIkeOZK
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) August 31, 2017
https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/903248240803553280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediaite.com%2Fonline%2Fgrand-canyon-of-idiocy-twitter-reacts-to-joe-walsh-tweet-claiming-charlie-hebdo-doesnt-make-fun-of-muslims%2F
https://twitter.com/SkylarJordan/status/903236761316450304
Let me Google that for you, champ.
2015: https://t.co/ON2v2JDXWp
2016: https://t.co/Ol2S7w3f5X
2017: https://t.co/PhA1KQq3eh
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) August 31, 2017
Is this some sort of bizarre joke, or is it actually just staggering ignorance of very recent history?
— Sarah McCammon? (@sarahmccammon) August 31, 2017
Er… you do know that 12 of their staff were killed by jihadists for cartoons they'd printed that they'd taken offence to? Surely you do!
— Etienne Cloche ????? (@ValentinaBass40) August 31, 2017
I think you need to learn how to Google. pic.twitter.com/tyGDzXoWXl
— Nikki (@SpeakTruthNow81) August 31, 2017
https://twitter.com/JoeBerkowitz/status/903235663826477056
Je Suis someone who does 6 seconds of research before smashing my fingers into my phone like some kinda doofus who doesn't pay child support
— Lana Del Rhaenyra ? (@AntifaDiPalma) August 31, 2017
— norespawns (@norespawns) August 31, 2017