A Republican senator acted insensitively during the “No Kings” protest in South Carolina, sparking public criticism. The senator, Tom Fernandez, drove through a crowd of protestors and allegedly made obscene gestures at them.
The moment shared on Reddit showed the congressman driving his Apocalypse Truck while blasting its loud horn, which sounded like a train, past a crowd of peaceful protesters. The truck, worth over $250,000, displayed three American flags mounted at its rear. Despite the boos from protesters, the legislator, kept at it, blaring his horn even louder.
As the truck created a disturbance with its loud horn, a voice was heard yelling, “F*ck you Tom,” and soon, the vehicle pulled over to the side. Although the video cuts off, not showing what followed, the accompanying caption provided a detailed explanation of the incident that occurred.
According to the caption, the politician had driven past the demonstrators “multiple times, trying to bait someone into reacting.” A demonstrator yelled, “F**k you Tom,” and “Tom flips him and the rest of the protestors off.”
The statement noted that one of the politician’s team members captured the scene to upload to the internet, hoping “to make the protestors look like the aggressors.”
The caption further pointed out that the Republican has a public Facebook group where he shares political opinions. However, he has blocked several constituents “who criticize or disagree; even respectfully.”
As such, he violated several First Amendment court rulings, which establish that public officials cannot block critics from platforms used for official business. Alongside the post was a link for a petition to involve the South Carolina Senate Ethics Committee and media.
The petition urged the committee to investigate whether the senator violated constitutional free speech. It also called for the reinstatement of individuals who were blocked and encouraged transparency online from all public officials in the state.
The Republican’s action has sparked outrage from social media users, with many mocking his fragile ego. One user mocked, “Bros driving the insecure-mobile,” a second person replied, “And got his wittle feelings hurt!”
“Emotional support truck,” added a third person. This netizen opined that “elected officials are being paid too much money.” A fourth observer added, “Owning a truck like that should be disqualifying for public office.”
When one netizen described the vehicle as the “douchiest truck,” another person added, “Politics aside, you truly have to be a supreme douche to even sit in that monstrosity, much less drive it,” wrote the netizen.
Tom Fernandez later confirmed online that he had indeed flipped at the protestors. He claimed that his actions were in response to the curse word from the demonstrators.
