Former talk show host and actor Montel Williams found himself getting dragged into politics this week as conservatives press photos of him with his daughter and Vice President Kamala Harris before she entered politics.
The saga escalated on Sunday night when Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung posted a photo of Williams sitting on a couch, in an apparent effort to combat internet jokes that have baselessly claimed Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) has had sexual relations with a sofa.
Williams wasted no time reacting to the tweet the next day.
"A very weird tweet from an even weirder guy. Good morning y’all!" Williams wrote on Monday morning.
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"It's really weird that the spokesman for a major presidential candidate would go to my social media to grab a copyrighted photo of me sitting on a couch, projecting calmness, love for life, and passion for respecting the man I am today," Williams said later. "I would think an official campaign spokesman would have more important things to do, but weirdos normally don’t."
Democrats and progressives have taken over the last week to pointing out the "weirdness" of former President Donald Trump and his MAGA movement in an attempt to shape the narrative about the 2024 presidential election.
MSNBC host Jen Psaki, for instance, did a collection of videos showing Democratic lawmakers talking about Vance being "weird," though it appears to have been an organic commentary talking about a range of issues and opinions around Vance.
"MAGA world is just plain weird. No other way around it," posted the Lincoln Project, with photos of the QAnon Shaman at the U.S. Capitol, photos of the RNC Trump fans wearing bandages on their ears and a woman wearing a gold diaper and a t-shirt saying "Real men wear diapers. Trump 2024."
Even Hillary Clinton got in on the mockery: "If Republican leaders don't enjoy being called weird, creepy, and controlling, they could try not being weird, creepy, and controlling."
Blue Missouri director Jess Piper posted photos of Republican candidates with AR-15s and modified automatic weapons. Another showed Republican candidate Holly Redher with some kind of rigged fuel shooting device burning books.
She pointed to those candidates as being emblematic of being "weird."
Influencer John Collins posted a photo of a man worshiping a golden statue of Trump with the quote: “Stop calling us weird.”
Meanwhile, on CNN Monday, Trump's former communications strategist Jason Osborne railed against Democrats relying on the word "weird" to make national headlines.
A number of MAGA fans posted photos of liberals claiming that they were the "weird" ones and growing increasingly insulted the campaign.
"This whole 'they’re weird' argument from the Democrats is dumb & juvenile," complained former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who has endorsed Trump for 2024. "This is a presidential election, not a high school prom queen contest. It’s also a tad ironic coming from the party that preaches 'diversity & inclusion.' Win on policy if you can, but cut the crap, please."
One person responded to Ramaswamy by posting a photo of him wearing shoes that appeared to be significantly larger than his actual feet.
"A quick reminder that a centerpiece of Vivek's GOP presidential campaign was to be 'unhinged' during the debates and launch childish insults at his opponents, a tactic that resulted in Fox News labeling him a 'court jester' that everyone hated," recalled reporter Justin Baragona.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) agreed that the GOP has some "weird" policies.
"Being obsessed with repressing women is goofy," she wrote on X. "Trying to watch what LGBTQ+ people do all the time is abnormal. Punishing people who don’t have biological offspring is creepy. It’s an incel platform, dude. It’s SUPER weird. And people need to know."
