Yes, this actually happened:
These days, fierce Twitter feuds can arise between the most random foes. Author J.K. Rowling went afterTrump-supporting Harry Potter fans. Grammy Award-winning rapper Cardi B tangled with conservative commentator Tomi Lahren. Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer spent years disparaging Dippin’ Dots ice cream.
Tuesday was no exception. The social media platform transformed, yet again, into a battleground — this time with the campaign team of Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) launching an attack on Patton Oswalt, dredging up the comedian’s old tweets that contained raunchy, expletive-filled jokes they deemed “offensive.”
The tweetstorm appeared to have been sparked by Oswalt’s seconds-long cameo in a campaign video released Tuesday by MJ Hegar, a Democratic military veteran who will challenge Cornyn for his Senate seat in 2020.
Oswalt, of course, had a terrific response:
But wait, it didn’t stop there:
The tweet was swiftly mocked and ratioed, garnering more than 5,600 replies compared to just 55 retweets and 189 likes as of Tuesday evening.
The Texas lawmaker wasn’t finished. Instead of letting a bad tweet die, Cornyn’s team tweeted through it, posting five more from Oswalt where he used words that Cornyn didn’t deem sensible.
All of them were ratioed almost as badly as the first one.
Oswalt has replied to the tweets from the Texas lawmaker, including addressing why he was being attacked.
“If you’re wondering why I’m being gummed by @TeamCornyn, it’s because I’m in this ad for the extraordinary @mjhegar. @JohnCornyn is scared shitless — he won’t even debate her — so this is the straw he’s grasping at. Good luck, Pop-Pop! http://mjfortexas.com,” he wrote.
Now the Texas GOP is resorting to this:
Here are some more gems from Oswalt’s Twitter feed:
I fucking love Patton Oswalt and he owned Cornyn on Twitter. By the way, Oswalt’s voice shows up in this Hegar ad:
This is going to be a top race next year if we’re going to take back the U.S. Senate. Beto O’Rourke (D, TX) shot a whole lot of confidence in Texas Democrats to target Cornyn big time. Hegar may not have the primary to herself as we wait for Rep. Joaquin Castro’s (D. TX) decision to jump into the race. But in the meantime, let’s help Hegar get a head start in this race. Click here to donate and get involved with Hegar’s campaign.