by Cab Ivanovich
An astonishing number of Trump supporters took the dangling video bait and swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. After last weekend's Hands Off! protests across the country, TikTok creator @redsaidblue posted a satirical video, sprinkled with subtle digs at popular MAGA stereotypes, in which she claimed to be attending the protest as a paid participant. In the video, she described what she could and couldn’t wear, who her point of contact was, and that she would receive a bonus for bringing a sign. "I got paid $100 for going to the protest, and I got an extra $10 for bringing the sign," she confesses to viewers in character as a Trump supporter going over to the other side to make a few bucks. "Overall, it was a pretty good experience. The people were pretty nice." A MAGA supporter on X (formerly Twitter) with over 200,000 followers, "@TheEXECUTlONER_", posted the performance to his account and encouraged other Trump supporters to share it. The buffoonery sailed by unchecked by rational thought or rudimentary critical thinking. There were 1,400 Hands Off! demonstrations across the country on Saturday. The majority drew well over 1,000 participants. Conservatively, someone or some entity would have spent around $140 million (before signs). The kicker: an estimated 3 million people took part in the nationwide protests. If all the marchers were punching the proverbial clock, someone would have spent $300 million—which might have been a boon to the economy after the stock market experienced its steepest plunge since COVID, during Trump’s first term. While @redsaidblue wasn’t actually paid to protest—it's not clear if she even attended one—the blue-check MAGA user is making bank. As of this story, the video had been shared by 24,000 other accounts on the social media platform. While the young woman wasn’t actually paid for the protest, the account that posted her video is cleaning up, having collected 47,000 likes and over 3,000 comments so far. Meanwhile, the creator began receiving negative backlash from liberals for posting the video, which she eventually took down. She is now attempting to remove copies from the internet. Supporters from the left were enraged, claiming her video added fuel to the political fire by implying extreme right conservatives aren’t smart enough to recognize when they’re being punked.
@redsaidblue SATIRE - regrettable.
♬ original sound - Red Said
Do paid protesters actually exist? They don't, according to an article from USA Today. "Time after time, claims of "paid protesters" have been debunked, sometimes by the very people who made them in the first place," according to an article by John R. Roby. Leo Gertner wrote a piece for The Washington Post entitled, "So what if protesters are paid?" Gertner wrote, "So the next time someone tries to discredit a movement by insinuating that some of the people on the ground are being compensated, ask the all-important question: So what?" What's the old saying? Freedom isn't free.
While we are free to take off our masks, others are free to ask us to put them on. The business owner has the freedom to require a mask. The airlines have the freedom to require masks. The religious assembly has the freedom to require you to wear a mask. People with whom you socialize may ask that you wear a mask. Of course, you are free to not patronize those businesses, forsake religious assembly and not hang out with certain people.
You are free to go maskless if you want to. However, you aren’t free to be in someone else’s face without a mask if they don’t want you there without one.
There are many places where you aren’t allowed to smoke. There are some businesses that will not allow your pet. They have the freedom to refuse you service and you have the freedom to go somewhere else. This is America.
We’ve all been to the funeral home around sick people. A dear friend of mine eulogized a funeral in late November. Two people were in attendance who had Covid-19. He caught the virus and was dead by mid-December.
He spent his last two weeks of life isolated in intensive care. He meant well in trying to help out a family in their time of grief. It cost him his life. He had been very active and healthy.
I’ve spoken in churches and to groups where people would come up and shake my hand and then say, "Well, I’ve been sick, but I came anyway". They acted like they should have received a trophy for coming and contaminating everyone. In reality, their actions were inconsiderate of everyone else’s health.
State governments may remove mask mandates. However, keep in mind that business owners still have the right to require masks. Churches still have the right to require masks. You don’t have to let anyone in your home without a mask if you choose.
We have freedom in America to make choices - all of us.
