Comedian posts satirical tweet claiming convicted RAPIST will speak at Republican convention and internet goes wild

Convicted Stanford University rapist Brock Turner will speak at the Republican National Convention! It’s a comedy bit, not the truth, but in 2020, social media can perhaps be forgiven for losing its ability to tell the difference.

Comedian Jena Friedman announced the disgraced student athlete as RNC ‘special guest’ on Twitter on Tuesday, provoking a firestorm of responses as a good portion of her audience took it seriously. Would the Republicans seriously invite a registered sex offender – even one with a Stanford University pedigree – to address their convention? 

Those who’d initially fallen for the gag defended their credulousness by pointing out “the level of ‘talent’ [the RNC] have actually attracted” wasn’t much higher than the young swimmer who became a hated poster child for privilege after he was charged with raping classmate Chanel Miller in 2015. 

The GOP inviting a convicted rapist to speak at its convention would actually be mundane by 2020 standards, some pointed out, referencing the sexual assault allegations leveled against President Donald Trump and Justice Brett Kavanaugh. 

Conservatives weighed in by pointing out that alleged serial sex offender Bill Clinton was actually set to speak at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night just hours after photos of him receiving a (fully clothed) massage on deceased pedophile and blackmail aficionado Jeffrey Epstein's plane were published.

And plenty of respondents seemed to be as upset by jokes about Turner speaking at the RNC than they would have been had Turner actually been slated to speak there, accusing Friedman of having “DIRECTLY harmed many survivors” with her joke and insisting that while they “got it,” it was simply beyond the pale to joke about such things. 

“It’s not satire if it’s indistinguishable from truth,” one user sniffed.

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