Days before factchecks, GOP lawmaker defended Omar against "white men in chains" meme

Conservative state representative Mary Franson, R-Alexandria, defended her Minnesota House colleague Ilhan Omar on Facebook days before an absurd meme was debunked by Snopes, Politfact, Factcheck.org,  Roll Call and the conservative Weekly Standard.

Why didn't other conservative Minnesota activists pay attention? The answer seems rooted in how social media consumers trust the sources for news and images.

The meme--in this case a screengrab of an Instagram image shared on November 9 from the trumps_the_man account-(view here) was posted on Facebook by MNGOP consultant and activist Jonathan Aanestad on November 10, receiving 123 Comments and 268 Shares.

Aanestad told one commenter that the post was "kind of posted as an experiment" and "troll bait":

Jonathan Aanestad Mary Ellen Moore - Hi Mary Ellen - I did not take it as disrespect 😘 I am simply amazed at how many people take the opposed position immediately - with out much thought. Kind of posted this as an experiment. And, also this is “troll” bait.

Franson stepped into the discussion that very day, commenting:

Mary Danielle Franson This statement is false. She did not say anything about white men

Her remark was met with this startling observation:

Betty Ann Sternal Doesn't matter if the statement is true or false. FBI has shown both she & Ellison are affiliated with terrorists group

After some chatter, Aanestad questioned Franson's knowledge and sources:

Jonathan Aanestad But Mary, how do you KNOW this? Are your sources better than mine?

Mary Danielle Franson Jonathan Aanestad because [I] looked around and that statement is only found on a graphic you posted. If you have factual documentation that isn’t found on a graphic please share. Passing false information as truth is not helpful to our conservative cause. I personally know what it’s like when people make crap up about me and it’s wrong.

Aanestad then suggested that Omar created the meme herself:

Jonathan Aanestad Mary - I did not make up that post and it is NOT from the interview you cite.

Further, as you know, Omar has made the meme about herself, all by herself. She did not need any help from FB posts by me or anyone.

And you know I am extremely sympathetic & empathetic about what happened to you regarding past posts about you. I have told you that in person.

Omar - not so much.

Read the rest of the thread on your own. In addition to Franson, gun rights activists Bryan Strawser and Rob Doar and a few others challenge the second half of the quote on the meme.  Mostly, however, the post and thread seem to illustrate the concepts laid out in Fake News Spreads Because People Trust Their Friends Too Much.

Aanestad is a "trusted sharer," -- and one who insists on his own superior veracity: 

Jonathan Aanestad Theo Menon - and you absolutely KNOW this quote is false HOW? You have seen every interview and read every FB & Twitter? I think not.

I am at the Capitol all the time and you would not believe the stuff I hear & know from credible sources. My followers on FB & Twitter consider what I post VERY credible, even if you do not. [emphasis added]

His peeps believe him, with a couple hundred folks sharing the now-debunked meme.

 

Local media coverage of the meme and other attacks on Omar has yet to connect it with any prominent local conservative activists or consultants.

 

At the Star Tribune, Maya Rao touched on the meme in Ilhan Omar critic banned from Twitter:

Omar also faced a false claim on social media that she had called for white men to be put in chains as slaves for not submitting to Islam. The fact-checking site PolitiFact rated the statement "Pants on Fire."

The Facebook post linked by Polifact is no longer online.

 

On Monday, City Pages' Pete Kotz reported in Conservatives claim Rep. Ilhan Omar is plotting to enslave the white man that some random tweeps shared the item, then recalled Republican lawmakers (voted out of office) who feared Minnesota's Muslims' participation in the political and civil life of the state:

In two months, Omar will become the first Muslim woman – along with Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib – to enter Congress. Though she has yet to even set her sails, conspiracies and falsehoods are already being attached to her name.

The latest is a most diabolical plot blazing across Facebook and Twitter. It shows a photo of Omar, accompanied by her purported quote: “I think all white men should be put in chains as slaves because they will never submit to Islam.”

Forget, for a moment, that she never actually said this. Or the folly of a predominantly white district giving 78 percent of its vote to someone who holds these beliefs. Or the probability of a diminutive woman from Minneapolis enslaving 77 percent of the U.S. population.

These are days where a good chunk of the conservative base doesn’t bother with such trifling matters as research and logic. The great patriots, a rather gullible sort, are ready to believe.

“Bring it bitch,” wrote the fearless R Wolfe (@WhoWolfe). 

“Won’t be hard to take out a jihadi swines,” added the manly @kevin587107. “Bring it on terrorist.” ...

. . .Let us not forget state Representatives Kathy Lohmer (R-Stillwater) and Cindy Pugh (R-Chanhassen), who trafficked in claims that Muslims were trying to “infiltrate” the GOP caucuses.

The Republican anti-Muslim content isn't about the post-election meme--and the tweeps cited aren't movers and shakers in the party. Indeed, the screengrab City Pages uses--from @WhoWolfe-- was posted on November 18, after Polifact and Snopes debunked it. Here's a screenshot of the now suspended account, from an individual apparently based in San Antonio:

 

While this account is suspended on twitter, much earlier versions shared on social media--and one much closer to Omar's backyard--remain online. This is helpful, if merely for documentary purposes.

 

Meanwhile, there's a Franson cameo in the other anti-Omar talking point. Last May we reported in Anatomy of a smear: Geller FGM post states ". . .MUSLIM legislators OPPOSE Minnesota bill", that Omar had voted for a Franson bill that would add penalties for FGM. The smear lately has been revived. Meanwhile, Forum Communications staff writer Dana Ferguson reports Minnesota lawmaker plans another crackdown on female genital mutilation. 

 

Screengrab at top: A very early example of the debunked meme, posted by a "trusted sharer" in Minnesota's conservative social media ecology.

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Comments

[Pete kotz]

You guys did a really nice job with the research and background on this story. I must make a point to tune in more often.