In case you missed it over the weekend, Beth wrote up the story of a Georgia state lawmaker -- Democrat Erica Thomas -- claiming that she'd been "verbally assaulted" by a white man who told her to go back where she came from. Her allegation was catnip for the media, which had been fixated on President Trump's tweets about 'the squad,' and some Trump supporters' chants of "send her back," directed at Rep. Ilhan Omar. And here was another woman of color facing the exact same (textbook) racist language at a grocery store, allegedly. Alas, we've since learned that basically everything about her story was bunk. The confrontation was over Thomas trying to scan too many items in an express lane, the man who called her out was Hispanic and a liberal, anti-Trump Democrat, and he did not use the key line that made Thomas' story "newsworthy." Here he is, raining on her victimhood parade, by unexpectedly jumping in to correct the record as she spoke to the press about the incident:
Eric Sparkes absolutely denies claim that he told politician @itsericathomas to “go back where you came from.” He says the argument started over her using the express lane while having too many items. pic.twitter.com/ZikyJc81vf
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) July 21, 2019
He says they exchanged harsh words back and forth, admitting to calling her "selfish" and the b-word. But he denies using the offending formulation, noting that he himself is Cuban. She scoffed and rolled her eyes as he relayed his version of events, visibly upset that she had been forced to share the spotlight, especially with someone challenging her tale. Finally, she backed off, admitting she couldn't quite remember what he'd said after all:
Thomas rebuked Sparkes' version of events, however, in an interview later in the day on Saturday, saying, "I don't know if he said 'go back,' or those types of words ... I don't know if he said 'go back to your country' or 'go back to where you came from,' but he was making those types of references is what I remember." A local journalist further asked her, "So you don't remember exactly what he said?" Thomas replied, "No, no, definitely not. But I know it was 'go back' because I know I told him to 'go back.'"
She "definitely" cannot remember 'exactly' what the man said, even though her entire story was about what he supposedly said -- a phrase that just happened to match up with a national controversy du jour. Thomas has retreated to claiming that the individual made "those types of references," which he's explicitly disputed. Given her walk back, and everything else that has undercut her original claims, observers are welcome to decide whether she has any credibility remaining whatsoever. The national media, ever eager to flog a story that aligns with their own biases and interests, continued reporting her initial accusation, even after she'd revised her story:
This tweet is from 2 hours ago, well after the lawmaker walked back her story. https://t.co/NTEsJjbKkE
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 21, 2019
And now national news organizations are spreading this claim without finding out if it's true.
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) July 21, 2019
This article, which attempts to connect the story to Trump, doesn't even note the fact that the guy disputes it and is a Cuban Democrat who hates Trump. https://t.co/gy0NX7ndlg
The Internet also discovered that Thomas is, or at least was, a big fan of Jussie Smollett; an amusing coincidence. Speaking of Smollett, his lawyers are now trying to pin full blame for their clients' actions on the brothers he enlisted to stage a hate crime. The brothers are suing, as is the city of Chicago. Meanwhile, officials have narrowed their search for a special prosecutor to look into the entire mess -- especially the role of State's Attorney Kim Foxx, whose conduct has been widely pilloried as unprofessional and deeply suspicious. I'll leave you with a stray note about Georgia politics:
?? @GovKemp approval rating up to 61% via @NBCNews, @SurveyMonkey poll of Georgia voters >>> https://t.co/WWtjJLzgZM #gapol
— Cody Hall (@CodyHallGA) July 20, 2019
One wonders if Ms. Thomas also believes Stacy Abrams is the rightful governor, another harmful fairy tale?
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