The Fresno State College Republicans ignited a firestorm after retweeting and making disparaging about a video from comedian Patrick Loller, who is a disabled U.S. combat veteran. In the video, Loller provoked those who refuse to wear masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic, calling them “cowards” with “fragile” egos that are “taking people’s lives.”
Loller originally posted the video to TikTok in February. It was discovered and more widely circulated by a group of outraged conservatives earlier this week. The college Republican group responded to the video by insulting Loller while appearing to mock post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, a condition that affects many combat veterans.
“You’re such a hero that you’ll break down when I light fireworks next door,” the group wrote in a since-deleted Wednesday response to the video.
“Maybe guys who are actually fighting in combat are brave and whatnot, but the vast majority of our military are glorified DMV employees,” the group added in a subsequent tweet. “They work against what we as conservatives believe all the time with few exceptions.”
The group drew nearly instant backlash for its response to the video, with many denouncing both the group’s treatment of Loller and apparent attitudes toward veterans in general. The official Fresno State Twitter account issued its own condemnation of the tweets and wrote that the matter had “been referred to the Dean of Students for further review.”
“We have been made aware of recent social media posts by a student organization that are deeply concerning and inconsistent with the University’s core values,” the university tweeted. “Fresno State strongly supports our nation’s military and its veterans.”
Fresno State declined any further comment when contacted by Newsweek.
Fresno State College Republicans later insisted that it had “always supported and appreciated” those who served in a pinned tweet, while vaguely suggesting that the original tweets might have come about due to some type of security breach.
“The CSU Fresno College Republicans have always supported and appreciated our military members, veterans and all who have made sacrifices for our great nation,” the group tweeted. “Security passwords have been changed to avoid any further distasteful posts and need for anything similar to be removed.”
After receiving several dozen negative responses that were skeptical of the suggestion that security issues were a factor in the controversial tweets, the group blocked Twitter users from making any further direct replies.
“Oh it was a security issue!” Loller tweeted in response. “That’s why they made multiple tweets about how veterans are cowards and glorified DMV employees! Gosh, good thing they pinned this, otherwise it might seem like a pathetic attempt to shift blame.”
“Aw how cute they turned off the comments after people called them out,” added Loller. “The party of personal responsibility and free speech everyone!”
