A top “Never Trump” lobbyist hopes that President Trump dies from Coronavirus.
In a shocking tweet, Berin Szoka–head of Big Tech-funded think tank Tech Freedom–wrote:
“Serious question: could there possibly [be] any greater poetic justice in the universe than for Trump to die of the #CPACvirus?”
Szoka’s reference of “CPAC virus” comes after an attendee of the Conservative Political Action Conference was diagnosed with coronavirus–just days after shaking the hands of prominent conservative leaders, including Sen. Ted Cruz and Trump’s incoming Chief of Staff, Rep. Mark Meadows.
Szoka continued his tirade against Trump and CPAC–joking about Trump’s “cult members” would die from attending the storied conservative conference, and mocking the conference for sending an email stating that the President had not been exposed to the disease.
At the time of Szoka’s tweet, more than 4,000 people worldwide have died of Coronavirus–and more than 116,000 people have been officially diagnosed with the virus, not including many with minor symptoms who have not been tested.
The backlash against Szoka was huge and swift–with Szoka being forced to delete the tweet just a couple hours after initially posting it late Monday night.
Szoka also posted a half-baked apology… saying he was sorry if anyone believed he was wishing death on the President (despite the fact that he clearly was doing so.)
“I’d never wish death upon anyone but I get why people read it that way. For that, I’m sorry,” wrote Szoka. “Like many, I’ve been distraught at systematic downplaying of this crisis. My tweet came not from a place of malice but from deepest concern. It doesn’t express my organization’s opinion.”
In a second tweet, Szoka then tried to take the moral high ground: “I’ve deleted the original tweet, not to hide it (screenshots, I know), but because, yes, my critics are right: we shouldn’t ever say anything that could be interpreted as wishing harm on anyone.”
However, just hours later, Szoka was back on the attack–retweeting someone who criticized CPAC for their handling of Coronavirus.