We now pause for a message from our all-knowing celebrity overlords:
Oh cool, two celebrities spreading a madeup story on twitter. Tell me more about kids from Macedonia being the problem. pic.twitter.com/8qKsNhTrb1
— BT (@back_ttys) June 25, 2017
Plenty of people have been forwarding a meme exposing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as a hypocrite for wanting to repeal Obamacare while knowing the government paid to treat his polio as a young child, but actor Ron Perlman might have amassed the largest number of retweets, currently just over 23,000, and likes, which tally more than 30,000. Add a retweet by Michael Ian Black, and there’s thousands more.
— Ron Perlman (@perlmutations) June 23, 2017
One you’ve let that sink in, go ahead and let it drain back out, because it’s not true. McConnell has told the story of how he received treatment at a facility founded by Franklin D. Roosevelt, but it was a nonprofit facility that was neither funded by nor operated by the government.
Did the U.S. Government Pay for Mitch McConnell’s Polio Care in the 1940s? https://t.co/ySOjg75om9
— snopes.com (@snopes) June 23, 2017
Snopes.com posted its fact-check Friday, but by that time the false story had been spread far and wide. Fortunately actor James Morrison was there to clear things up … sort of.
https://twitter.com/JamesPMorrison/status/878695698249662464
Nice. Why follow “to be clear” with a cheap shot tied to “confusion” over whether his treatment was government funded? It wasn’t. But thanks, blue checkmarks!
https://twitter.com/robdelaney/status/878298287052267520
Well, apparently no one cares that the story is false, especially after Vice President Mike Pence spoke Saturday of a health care plan with personal responsibility as one of its pillars.
Yet Mitch McConnell is alive today to be so evil because his gov't took care of him for free when he contracted POLIO.
— Exit Trump, chased by a bear (@IzumiShikibu1) June 24, 2017
Mitch McConnell had polio as a young child. Personal responsibility issue?
— ʟᴇɪᴀ ɪɴ ʟᴀ ʟᴀ ʟᴀɴᴅ (@hey_leia) June 25, 2017
Just like Mitch McConnell was personally responsible for his childhood polio. Oh wait…
— It Was A TV Show (@judd4thedefense) June 24, 2017
https://twitter.com/camannwordsmith/status/877985185895030784
McConnell, who survived polio because of government supported healthcare, is a COWARD. Sad. https://t.co/jbPLUUnEib
— It's All A Dream (@zemogone) June 23, 2017
Would new AHCA have covered McConnell's polio treatments at Warm Springs, because that's only relevant part. Who paid for those, anyone??
— From the huddled masses (@MtkaLiberal) June 22, 2017
As a youth, McConnell overcame polio by government-provided treatment at Warm Springs that potentially saved him from being disabled. Shame!
— Dr. Edward Alley (@all_eddy) June 23, 2017
Mitch McConnell had polio as a child and was treated with gov't subsidized care. His lack of a heart, however, was left untreated. https://t.co/SOjx3PHqUG
— Andy was here (@andyoutis) June 23, 2017
Mitch McConnell was cured of polio by Medicare@SpeakerRyan attended college on Social Security
They want to take them away from you, #MAGA
— ⚡︎ J-S Poupart ⚡︎ (@jspoupart) June 23, 2017
https://twitter.com/ScottTheReciter/status/878697075084369920
https://twitter.com/criticaldick/status/878002114311495681
https://twitter.com/deng_gardner/status/878003595374993409
If there were men like Mitch McConnell around when Mitch McConnell was a child, he'd most likely have been killed by polio. #HealthcareBill
— Brian (@PhegleysLament) June 22, 2017
The worst thing about Polio is that it didn't finish the job on @SenateMajLdr Mitch McConnell.
— Sobble Best Boi (@Brick_Frog) May 10, 2017
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Related:
Alyssa Milano, Sarah Silverman, Nicole Wallace and thousands of others are horrified at a Fake News video https://t.co/Loq62bBDUg
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) June 19, 2017