A reporter for Reuters was ridiculed for claiming she had a “wave” of anxiety when she saw a group of protesters waving American flags, which reminded her of the Jan. 6 rioting.
Congressional correspondent Patricia Zengerle tweeted a photograph of the protesters on Wednesday.
“Yikes,” she tweeted. “Just saw this gang walking around the Capitol and had a wave of #Jan6 anxiety.”
The photo showed about half a dozen people with American flags and a large banner that had a website address for the “1776 Restoration Movement.”
Zengerle’s tweet received the dreaded “ratio” distinction, when negative comments outnumber the “likes” a tweet receives. At the time of publishing, the tweet had garnered only 332 “likes” but had received more than 4.7k comments.
Many of the responses mocked Zengerle.
“I appreciate Patricia displaying so efficiently how absurd everyone who panicked about 1/6 really is. A half dozen senior citizens with bad hips waving American flags is about as dangerous as 1/6 was,” read one popular response.
“Journos literally talk about seeing a crowd of old people waving American flags as if they’re currently on the ground in Fallujah,” replied strategist Greg Price.
“Oh no, patriotic senior citizens waving American flags. Our democracy is under attack by the AARP ‘gang.’ Lock down the Capitol. Someone evacuate AOC,” mocked another tweet.
“You’re not making the point about Jan 6 that you think you are,” responded Noah Blum.
“I can understand your fear – the old lady back there carrying a flag larger than her own body must be an absolute beast,” replied another user.
“Really? A small group of people with American flags terrifies you?” read another response.
“Journos literally see boomers with American flags and think Capitol police should shoot them on sight,” read another popular response.
Zengerle didn’t respond, but she did close off the comments to the tweet so that only those who follow her or are followed by her could respond directly to it.
Another public hearing by the Jan. 6 committee is scheduled for Thursday.
Here’s more about the Jan. 6 committee hearings:
New witnesses for Jan. 6 committee
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