Trolling is an important part of Republican politics in 2024. Owning the libs seems to affect them as if it were disco era cocaine: a reminder that Donald Trump was a regular at Studio 54. That’s why YMCA is played at Trump rallies. Weird but true.
Trolling may be a fixture on the right, but they rarely troll their own. That’s what The Clownfish did when he took to Troll Central aka the platform formerly known as Twitter after LSU’s loss to Iowa in the Elite 8:
My mother coached women’s high school basketball during the height of desegregation, no one has a greater respect for the sport and for Coach Mulkey. However, above respect for that game is a deeper respect for those that serve to protect us and unite us under one flag !
It is…
— Jeff Landry (@JeffLandry) April 2, 2024
This constitutes political cannibalism: LSU women’s head basketball coach Kim Mulkey is a notorious right-wing anti-vaxxer. I call her Bobby Knight in sequins. Like Mulkey, Knight was a great basketball coach, a horrible human being, and a rabid wingnut.
According to the Louisiana Illuminator, there’s a problem with Landry’s logic:
“Both LSU basketball teams and its football team remain in the locker room during a portion of pregame events that includes the national anthem, putting dozens of athletes at risk of losing their scholarships.
“Our basketball programs have not been on the court for the anthem for the last several seasons,” LSU athletics spokesperson Cody Worsham said in a statement. “Usually the anthem is played 12 minutes before the game when the team is in the locker room doing final preparations.”
The Gret Stet of Louisiana is sports mad. The Clownfish just revealed that he’s as ignorant of LSU sports as he is of everything else. I expect to see some crawfishing on this point. The same thing happened during the height of Wingnuttia’s Kaepernick fever:
A similar situation occurred in 2017 when unnamed Louisiana legislators threatened LSU’s funding if players kneeled during the national anthem. Kneeling during the anthem at athletics events spurred a heated political debate after NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick did so in 2016 in protest of police brutality against Black people.
The threat was withdrawn after then-LSU President F. King Alexander reminded lawmakers the football team remained in the locker room during the anthem, The Advocate reported.
I was raised to look before I leap. Apparently, The Clownfish was not. I expect him to blame his staff any time now.
This is what happens when the Governor is a troll.
The last word goes to Tony Joe White. I have no idea if this is true of Jeff Landry but it’s one of the few songs I could find with troll in the title:
I’m still waiting to find out where his mom coached an integrated team pre-desegratation.
More than a little ironic that “YMCA” is played at his rallies.
Also bizarre given how hard the Clownfish worked to advance the orange man’s attempted coup – by far the most unpatriotic event of my lifetime. (P.S. Glad you’re feeling better, Adrastos!)
Thank you, Julia.