Kentucky Republican Congressman Thomas Massie though he’d found the perfect quote he could use to attack Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, so he fired off this tweet on Sunday afternoon:
You mustn’t question Fauci, for he is science. pic.twitter.com/KnqCcPXWSe
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) January 30, 2022
Problem is, the quote didn’t come from Voltaire. It belongs to Kevin Alfred Strom, a neo-Nazi who was convicted on charges of possessing child porn back in 2008, according to HuffPost:
USA Today fact-checked the quote after it went viral last spring. At the time, Strom called it “kind of flattering.”
As you might expect, this isn’t the first time a Republican has deliberately allied himself with white supremacists and the neo-Nazi cause:
- Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) has been linked to members of the white supremacy movement on numerous occasions
- Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has spouted anti-Semitic rhetoric and suggested that lasers controlled by Jews started fires in California
Massie was also called out on social media:
Congressional Intern Resigns After His Boss Thomas Massie Compares COVID Regulations to the Holocaust https://t.co/1j6VbrqE4Y
— Tim Clark (@tcj) January 30, 2022
Learn where your quotes come from. 🙄 pic.twitter.com/vQi57qHhmi
— Doer of Deeds (@deed_doer) January 30, 2022
— Tarquin (@Tarquin_Helmet) January 31, 2022
😣 No evidence Voltaire ever said this. The closest source found is a 1993 text by white supremacist Kevin Alfred Strom, co-founder of a WVA-based white supremacist organization who pled guilty to charges of possession of child pornography & served 2 years in prison. pic.twitter.com/ojntumrbQg
— Mel the Enforcer (@Fah_Lo_Me) January 30, 2022
“All family life is organized around the most damaged person in it.” ~ Sigmund Freud pic.twitter.com/NXoOPRL3cV
— Vaxxed and Taxed-mentally and emotionally (@fitserbmomma) January 31, 2022
Way to misinform the people. That is not from Voltaire (as others below have already stated) and the cartoon is also misrepresented (also shown below). So other than your spouting the party line about Fauci (and what are your qualifications?), do you have any original thought?
— Barry Hochberg (@bmhochberg) January 31, 2022
Here’s a quote that actually came from Voltaire, and it applies to almost every member of today’s GOP:
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”
Featured Image Via NBC News
