Rep. Adam Kinzinger on late Monday night posted a confusing tweet appearing to threaten an anonymous Twitter user by the name of “Catturd” after the account retweeted a meme.
The meme which triggered the bizarre and hate-fueled wrath of Rep. Kinzinger featured a cartoon drawing of a person lying down in his own urine and tears, creating a split puddle of blue and yellow that resembles the Ukrainian flag.
“It’s dumb that I’m laughing way too hard at this,” Catturd said of the meme.
😂😂😂- It's dumb that I'm laughing way too hard at this. https://t.co/slMJ1WB4Dw
— Catturd ™ (@catturd2) November 21, 2022
Rep. Kinzinger, an outspoken admirer of Ukrainian President Volodmir Zelensky and a staunch supporter of escalating NATO conflict with nuclear Russia, randomly screenshotted the “Catturd” repost and appeared to threaten the user behind the account with violence.
“Literal evil,” Rep. Kinzinger exclaimed. “If I met you in person it would not end well… for you. Sicko.”
Literal evil. If I met you in person it would not end well… for you. Sicko
Trolls who have never done a thing in their life pretend to be patriots and laugh at real warriors. pic.twitter.com/NrAhC4eAfW
— Adam Kinzinger #fella (@AdamKinzinger) November 22, 2022
Rep. Kinzinger added, “Trolls who have never done a real thing in their life pretend to be patriots and laugh at real warriors.”
“Sitting congressman threatens violence against a U.S. citizen over laughing at a meme they found funny,” Catturd tweeted in response to Kinzinger’s reaction. “I can’t stop laughing at this infant.”
Sitting congressman threatens violence against a U.S. citizen over laughing at a meme they found funny. 😂 I can’t stop laughing at this infant. https://t.co/97SCSxEEJi
— Catturd ™ (@catturd2) November 22, 2022
The Illinois congressman was widely mocked and met with criticism by conservatives online, who pointed out how strange it was that Rep. Kinzinger would chose to pick a fight with an anonymous Twitter user named after feline feces.
Threatening to beat up “catturd” is the closest thing Adam has seen to combat https://t.co/j0A5OXnqDR
— Pedro L. Gonzalez (@emeriticus) November 22, 2022
One Twitter user edited the meme to include Rep. Kinzinger’s likeness lying in the puddle of urine and tears.
Greatest Meme of all time! 💯🎯 pic.twitter.com/T4YNRqqSl3
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) November 22, 2022
“Kinzinger is such a grease fire that he’s not even gonna be able to capitalize on his Anti-Trumpism and turn it into post-Congress dollars. Dude is just a walking disaster waiting to happen,” Jesse Kelly, host of the Jesse Kelly Show, said of the situation.
Kinzinger is such a grease fire that he’s not even gonna be able to capitalize on his Anti-Trumpism and turn it into post-Congress dollars. Dude is just a walking disaster waiting to happen. https://t.co/zXUqaX4qqd
— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) November 22, 2022
Others have speculated that Rep. Kinzinger may have been under the influence of alcohol at the time of his tweet.
Hey @AdamKinzinger, now that it’s the morning, I wanted to ask you if you were drunk or high when you sent this tweet threatening to physically attack @catturd2? https://t.co/MF8afFKCff
— Alex Bruesewitz 🇺🇸 (@alexbruesewitz) November 22, 2022
“Hey @AdamKinzinger, now that it’s the morning, I wanted to ask you if you were drunk or high when you sent this tweet threatening to physically attack @catturd2?” wrote conservative personality Alex Bruesewitz.
