Hashtag Havoc

What goes around, comes around. This statement has never been more accurate as MAGA activists are using powerful tools to scour various social media platforms and expose the comments of diehard liberals. By publicly reposting what liberals say, MAGA activists invite others to join in, as they all follow each other and the posts appear in their feeds. When the posts go viral, organizations are forced to confront the negative publicity initially. If no action is taken within a couple of days, these posts resurface, forcing organizations to defend the behavior of these individuals. Most organizations fall under pressure and suspend or terminate the employment of the liberals.

Welcome to the MAGA-powered #MeToo 2.0 moment in America. Infinitely more impactful than the first movement, which was focused narrowly on sexual harassment allegations against captains of the media industry, the 2.0 version has left many liberals stunned and, in most cases, reeling.

The initial #MeToo movement involved investigative journalists speaking with multiple victims and corroborating their accounts by collecting statements from friends who had been told about the incidents during private conversations at the time. Numerous media personalities, such as Harvey Weinstein, Charlie Rose, and Matt Lauer, all fell from the perch of their careers. The New Yorker's Ronan Farrow became the go-to media personality to uncover such abuse. Overnight, he became the Bob Woodward of the MeToo movement.

Sexual harassment is a bipartisan issue. With support from both the right and left to publicly prosecute the #MeToo violators, the usual standards of due process and providing those charged with an opportunity to clear their names in court all got tossed out. Most of these, with the exception of a few cases, such as Harvey Weinstein's, never made it to court. The charges were prosecuted in the court of public opinion, and organizations quickly fell in line to distance themselves from these individuals.

Some liberals saw an opportunity to target conservatives using the same cancel-culture model. First to go was once-celebrated Fox News host Megyn Kelly, who had been welcomed into the NBC family with her own hour of the Today show, eclipsing established African American stars already at the network. While everyone smiled for the cameras, deep resentment continued within the newsroom, and the left was waiting to pounce. In what appears to be a relatively harmless episode filled with the usual banter, Kelly disclosed that she had herself worn blackface to celebrate Halloween.

The uproar in liberal circles could be heard all around the country. How could a respected journalist, who had herself endured alleged sexual harassment when she was at Fox News, a story that became the subject of a Hollywood movie, be so insensitive? The cancel culture weapon was applied to her, and she was gone within a few short days.

What the left did not realize was that people in the hinterland still loved Megyn Kelly, unlike the other media personalities who fell from sexual harassment charges. Most people did not agree that her actions were so hateful that she would need to pay for them with her job. The liberals also did not take into account that Megyn Kelly had signed a very large severance package. As a trained lawyer, she knew how to negotiate an employment agreement effectively before she signed her name. That contract turbocharged her career as NBC was forced to cough up nearly $20 million to her, an amount that she wisely used to launch her own podcast. Today, The Megyn Kelly Show, produced from her own private studios, has no bosses other than herself, and as a podcast, it is not subject to FCC regulations regarding language. SiriusXM signed a deal with her, and Kelly is a superstar media personality, consistently ranking in the top five.

During the four years of the Biden administration, as DEI policies became embedded into every aspect of American life, the ultra-left-wing section of the Democratic Party became extraordinarily powerful. Big Tech allowed these voices to amplify when Twitter executives took it upon themselves to suspend the account of a sitting president. This move had just been preceded three months earlier when, during the height of the 2020 presidential campaign, Twitter deliberately suppressed a New York Post story about the Hunter Biden laptop. The left felt rejuvenated and liberated to go after their conservative enemies while doubling down on extreme left-wing ideologies with which the average American had nothing in common.

Thanks to the generosity of Elon Musk, who had to shell out $44 billion to acquire Twitter and streamline the staff that had become bloated and overconfident. America began to turn around. With X established as a platform where free speech thrives, many liberals bolted to their own safe space, such as Bluesky and Reddit, where they felt more comfortable. However, a significant number remained on traditional social media and continued to resist the MAGA movement and its associated principles.

On Wednesday, the unthinkable happened. Charlie Kirk, a youth leader of the MAGA movement and future presidential candidate, was gunned down in a JFK-style assassination. The world erupted in horror at how a young father and husband had been taken away for doing what he loved.

Many liberals did not see the brutal killing that way. They rejoiced that a white Christian man who promoted traditional values of marriage and family, and ardently believed in the Second Amendment, was dead. We know they were delighted because they took to social media to celebrate.

It was a seminal moment in American history because MAGA activists, not directed by anyone, launched #MeToo 2.0 to cancel out these horrific voices.

Laura Sosh-Lightsy, an associate dean in the Office of Student Care and Conduct at Middle Tennessee State University, posted on Facebook that she had "zero sympathy" for Charlie Kirk following his assassination, describing his death as him having "spoken his fate into existence." Conservative activist Matt Hurtt shared a screenshot of her post on X, tagging the university and calling for her dismissal. The university president, Sidney McPhee, issued a statement condemning the "inappropriate and callous comments" and fired her the same day.

Charlie Rock, a communications staffer for the NFL's Carolina Panthers, posted on social media, questioning why people were sad about Kirk's death ("Why are yall sad?") and shared a Wu-Tang Clan song titled "Protect Ya Neck," which was interpreted as referencing the fatal shot to Kirk's neck. Conservative influencers, including those from Libs of TikTok, shared screenshots of his posts on X. The Panthers issued a statement saying the views did not represent the organization and terminated Rock's employment.

There are several other examples, too numerous to cite here. A searchable database of over 20,000 individuals celebrating Charlie Kirk's murder will soon be available on a website, according to the website's founders. It will be searchable by general location, employer, and industry type.

There is no place for political violence in America. Sympathizing with political violence and condoning the killer's actions are just as horrendous because one never knows when motive translates into dangerous action. While we are avid defenders of free speech, we can't support blatantly illegal speech.

#MeToo 2.0 couldn't have arrived at a better time.