Mike Huckabee Says He Identifies As 'Chinese' And More Of This Week's 'One Main Character'
Every day somebody says or does something that earns them the scorn of the internet. Here at Digg, as part of our mission to curate what the internet is talking about right now, we rounded up the main characters on Twitter from this past week and held them accountable for their actions.
This week's characters include a former Arkansas governor's racist joke about identifying as Chinese, a CEO who lets her assistant do all her work, a TV doctor who doesn't like vaccine passports, a US senator who's a little too enthusiastic about locking people up and a CBS Sports social media editor with an unfortunate double entendre.
Saturday
Mike Huckabee
The character: Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor, twice-failed presidential candidate, guy who really wants to send your kids a free pamphlet on Donald Trump.
The plot: On Saturday, Huckabee tweeted that he would begin to "identify as Chinese" to garner support from corporations like Coke and Delta, two companies that spoke out against Georgia's restrictive new voting law.
The repercussion: Huckabee's racist joke went over like a lead balloon on Twitter, with many people noting the impropriety of the former governor's tweet at a time when the Asian-American community is experiencing a significant rise in hate crimes.
The comment even inspired Congressman Ted Lieu to call upon Huckabee's daughter, former press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, to condemn his comments.
After the backlash, Huckabee responded to evangelical author Beth Moore, who called his tweet "antithetical to the gospel," saying he didn't "take Twitter or [himself] that seriously" and wishing her a happy Easter without offering an apology.
Sunday
Christine Carrillo
The character: Christine Carrillo, CEO of Butlr Health, avid surfer.
The plot: On Sunday, Carrillo tweeted that she was able to run a tech startup and still write and surf every day thanks to the help of her intrepid executive assistant. "My EA saves me 60% of the time," she said. In subsequent tweets, Carrillo went on to say that her EA checks her emails, manages her fundraising, handles sales meetings, onboards new employees and numerous other tasks.
The repercussion: Carrillo's viral thread caught the wrath of the internet who called out the executive for having her assistant seemingly do her entire job while she got to enjoy leisure activities.
Despite the negative attention, Carrillo continued to keep her thread up and responded only to people who agreed with her advice.
Monday
Dr. Drew Pinsky
The character: Dr. Drew Pinsky, host of MTV's Loveline, frequent downplayer of the coronavirus.
The plot: On Monday, Pinsky tweeted against the need for vaccine passports, saying they "segregate people and strip [people] of their freedom to travel internationally." He asked, "how would you feel if international travel also required other vaccinations?"
The repercussion: Pinsky's tweet drew flak from doctors and other medical professionals who pointed out that travel to many parts of the world requires proof of vaccination, especially against yellow fever and polio.
After being thoroughly dragged by the medical community on social media, Pinsky went on "Daily Blast Live," where he claimed his son had written the tweet and vehemently defended himself from the widespread criticism. "I didn't say anything about my position, and of course, I know the sky is blue. I know that certain countries require certain kinds of vaccines, but the CDC actually breaks down travel into 'routine,' 'suggested' and 'required,' and there's very few 'required' vaccines," he said.
Tuesday
Tom Cotton
The character: Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican senator, proponent of sending America's military in to shut down Black Lives Matter protests.
The plot: On Tuesday, Cotton tweeted a link to a CNN story about crime skyrocketing in major American cities and quipped, "We have a major under-incarceration problem in America. And it's only getting worse."
The repercussion: Cotton's tweet proclaiming that America didn't have enough people in prison struck a nerve, with critics pointing out that America had, by far, the highest incarceration rate in the world, with more than 2 million people behind bars. Max Berger noted that despite making up 5% of the world's population, America had 25% of the world's prisoners.
One netizen also observed that if Cotton's home state of Arkansas were its own country, it would have one of the highest incarceration rates in the world.
Thursday
CBS Sports
The character: CBS Sports, the sports division of CBS.
The plot: On Thursday, to promote its coverage of The Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia, CBS Sports' Twitter account tweeted, "An iconic group of holes." It was quickly deleted.
The repercussion: Someone took a screenshot of CBS Sports' double entendre, and many people had a field day at their social media manager's expense. It was proof that nothing is truly deleted from the internet.
Read last week's edition of One Main Character, which includes a Newsmax host's bad trip that landed him in Africa and more.
Did we miss a main character from this week? Please send tips to [email protected].
