Yesterday, BoingBoing writer Xeni Jardin shared with her Twitter followers that a relative she never met recently died at home of COVID19, which she and other family members contracted at a pro-Trump church in Pennsylvania:
Relative in our extended family got COVID, as did her husband and other members of her family unit, at a pro-Trump church in PA. No space at the hospital. Died at home. Family members who believe in COVID mourned via Zoom. Others, gathered in person with the body and their virus
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) November 29, 2020
Jardin is taking the news hard.
Death does not break the denial
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) November 29, 2020
I didn’t know them. Other family members are feeling the pain, I pray for them.
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) November 29, 2020
I never met them. I never get to meet them. They are lost to me.
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) November 29, 2020
Unfortunately, Jardin has been met with some skepticism.
How awful that this totally really happened. https://t.co/CRhMqpnZFR
— Anthony Bialy (@AnthonyBialy) November 30, 2020
Where is this? https://t.co/vaRAkSvj07
— Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) November 29, 2020
T
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NConveniently, the “pro-Trump church people” in Pennsylvania died, while those who “believe in science” lived.
My favorite part of political COVID Twitter is where the deplorables die. https://t.co/mAeKMNaXC3
— Ian McKelvey (@ian_mckelvey) November 29, 2020
She knows the path of an invisible virus that infected a distant relative who was denied care at a PA hospital at a time PA hospitals aren't denying care to anyone, and it's all because he's a pro-Trump Christian.
Which tells me more about her religion than anything else. https://t.co/ZLwYwOwWIO
— Tall Man Short Hair (@TallManShort) November 29, 2020
Jardin’s been amassing quite the collection of skeptical tweets:
Very cool and normal lots of right wing accounts now attacking this as false. It is time for me to log off. Wow. Yeah, no, it’s not false and I didn’t sign up for this. Too much. pic.twitter.com/81HCl7BGp8
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) November 29, 2020
2020. Radio hosts and right wing “influencer” accounts today dunking on a tweet I shared about a relative who died of COVID at home. pic.twitter.com/e50xk7bvs9
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) November 29, 2020
This is 2020. pic.twitter.com/DANf3HilM5
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) November 29, 2020
2020. pic.twitter.com/hGV2VXLK2V
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) November 29, 2020
2020. pic.twitter.com/av2pLOaUB5
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) November 29, 2020
2020 pic.twitter.com/60cE0neh3L
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) November 29, 2020
2020. pic.twitter.com/bgOR1ktV80
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) November 29, 2020
2020. pic.twitter.com/dQMW189Yf7
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) November 29, 2020
2020. pic.twitter.com/0h8wXtU3Od
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) November 29, 2020
Notable: The Federalist and other Verified accounts of that ilk decided to dunk-tweet on this in a seemingly coordinated manner today. Networks of accounts pushing false narrative that personal accounts of COVID deaths are lies. See: Smollett mentions.
Bookmark this activity. https://t.co/ywzAZEhi0A pic.twitter.com/N6hHswoomt
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) November 29, 2020
Bookmark it.
Sad attempt at going viral. These fake stories do a disservice to the legitimate issue at hand https://t.co/y27KTTE2HP
— Henry Gardenhoser (@John_Stone_3) November 30, 2020
Is it possible that Jardin is on the level? Absolutely. We’re in no position to know for sure one way or another.
But if she’s looking for sympathy, using distant relatives to score cheap and dirty political points is not the best way to get it:
The epicenter of this surge here in PA is in the mountain counties in the middle of the state. These are also among the PA counties where Trump had his largest margins over Biden. This is not a coincidence.
— Andy Farquhar (@andy_farquhar) November 29, 2020
That’s right. Some of my family members are from that general region, and they’re really suffering in it. We’ve failed them. We’ve failed them, with this pandemic, with everything.
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) November 29, 2020
Some individuals are doing it right. Others aren’t. Same goes for states. And institutions, like churches. Not all are handling badly. But many are murderous.
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) November 29, 2020
“Murderous” individuals, states, and churches. Not exactly subtle, is she?
Perhaps if you are publicly abusing your family members in this way you can stop acting like a victim when people are skeptical.
— Mo Mo (@MollyRatty) November 30, 2020
Just a suggestion.
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