Republican Congressman Thomas Massie thought he was quoting Voltaire in a Twitter takedown of Dr Anthony Fauci, but his 18th-century French philosophy appeared to be a bit rusty, as he was actually quoting a paedophile neo-Nazi.
Dr Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, is a frequent target of right-wing attacks for his refusal to go along with former President Donald Trump's talking points during the coronavirus pandemic and his later lionisation among Democrats.
"You mustn't question Fauci, for he is science," Mr Massie tweeted, along with an illustration of a large hand trying to smash tired workers.
He then quoted Voltaire – or at least he thought he did.
"To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize," he wrote, attributing it to the French philosopher.
USA Today decided to fact check the quote and found that it was not Voltaire who uttered the lines, but rather Kevin Alfred Strom, an American neo-Nazi who said the line during a 1993 radio broadcast. In 2008, Strom pleaded guilty to possessing child sexual abuse images and was charged with attempting to force a 10-year-old into a sexual relationship.
Strom's group, National Vanguard, fell apart after his conviction.
Former Clinton administration official Elaine Karmack told The Guardian that this was not just typical of Mr Massie, but of the larger Republican party as well.
“The guy’s abominable but that’s what’s happening to the Republican party. They’re flat-out nuts. There’s a piece of the Republican party that now supports violence,” she said.
Even without the troubling source of the quote, Mr Massie’s intended point appears to be hollow; no one has ever been punished for criticising Dr Fauci. Conservative lawmakers regularly criticise the doctor without penalty. Mr Trump’s former adviser, Steve Bannon, even said he would have put Dr Fauci’s head on a pike outside the White House to scare others into obedience to the former president, and he faced no repercussions beyond a lashing in the press.
It was also revealed that the illustration Mr Massie used in his tweet originated as an anti-child labour editorial cartoon. Kendall Brown, a healthcare advocate, pointed out that Mr Massie's use of the cartoon was hypocritical, citing his vote to protect importers who relied on forced labour.
The bill Mr Massie voted against was intended to block the importation of products made by forced labourers in China. He was the only member of Congress to vote against the bill.
It’s unclear if Mr Massie was or is currently aware of his misattribution. The post was still up on his Twitter as of Monday afternoon.
The Independent has reached out for comment.
It's not the first time his criticism of coronavirus policies has intersected with the Nazis. In August, one of his staffers quit after the congressman reportedly compared vaccine cards to Nazi policies during the Holocaust.
In Mr Massie's defence, he isn't the first person to misattribute the quote; actor John Cusack made the same mistake in 2019, but later apologised when he learned the quote's origin.
