One of the things about social media is that it lets you see what actors are like when they aren’t playing characters and reciting lines written by someone else.
It also reveals just how mean and disgusting some of them can be.
Take for instance this recent tweet by Star Trek actor George Takei, who wrote on March 19 that, “When it comes to this virus, I trust Rand Paul about as far as his neighbor can throw him.”
The tweet is a reference to a violent attack on Sen. Rand Paul by his neighbor in 2017. The neighbor tackled the senator from behind, resulting in several broken ribs and complications that then required lung surgery.
The neighbor was originally sentenced to 30 days behind bars for the attack, but the sentence was later extended to eight months in prison after federal prosecutors successfully argued that the original sentence was too lenient for an attack on a member of Congress that they described as “vicious and unprovoked.” A jury also awarded Paul more than $580,000 in damages and medical expenses in a civil suit.
This wasn’t the first time the Star Trek actors has made light of the attack on Sen. Paul. In January, Takei expressed that he wished he’d been the one to attack the senator. He tweeted, “Admit it. These days we all sort of wish we had been Rand Paul’s neighbor.”
That’s ugly stuff. And if you think that storming the Capitol building was wrong, then you should also be appalled at a violent attack on an elected official, not fantasizing about committing the assault yourself.
It’s ironic, because Takei has spoken in recent days about the need to stop anti-Asian racism and hate crimes following the mass shooting in Atlanta. You’d think a guy who purports to be against hate and violent attacks wouldn’t make light of a violent attack on an elected representative.
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