After the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) union endorsed Joe Biden last year, some of its dissenting, pro-Trump members started a private Facebook group. It currently has some 27,000 members. If that isn’t shocking enough, you ought to see what kind of batshit-insane garbage many of them are spewing with regard to the pandemic.
From Pro Publica, via Raw Story:
Posts in the group, which is called IAFF Union Firefighters for Trump and has been endorsed by Trump, scoffed at the seriousness of the virus, echoing false assertions by Trump and his allies comparing it to the seasonal flu. “Every election year has a disease,” read one meme, purporting to be written on a doctor’s office whiteboard. “This is a viral-pneumonia being hyped as The Black Plague before an election.”
Yes, some of the people charged with protecting society during this emergency believe that it’s not all that big a deal, and that the liberal Deep State is stirring up fear and uncertainty to interfere with the election.
Of course, some of them are, nonetheless, also claiming that the virus is a biological weapon developed by the Chinese government in association with the Democrats. Because, who needs critical thinking?
“By the Chinese to stop the riots in Hong Kong,” one member wrote.
“[Y]ou are absolutely correct,” another replied. “I said that in the beginning. Democrats saw an opportunity to use it against Trump and get rid of older people which they have been trying to do for a while.”
Remember those death panels?
It seems, though, that the main feeling is that it’s all a hoax, and that everything we’ve been seeing is some dastardly plan to hurt Trump’s chances in the election.
This is scary. Already, some fire fighters have had to be quarantined for weeks after becoming exposed. Putting aside the fact that the nation cannot afford to have first responders sidelined at a time like this, such ignorance could make it more likely that many of them will be actively spreading the virus.
Commenters contacted by ProPublica declined to answer questions or didn’t respond to messages. ProPublica reviewed hundreds of screenshots provided by co-workers of members of the group who asked to be anonymous, fearing retaliation. Those people said the social media posts are not idle online venting — they reflect real-world attitudes that are leading some first responders to potentially shun special plans and protective equipment. That dismissiveness, the people said, could put first responders and others at risk as they attend to emergency calls with potentially infected people.
IAFF leadership is aware of, and renounces, this crap. And some members of the fb group are pushing back, though their pleas for common sense are met with derision. One hopes that the IAFF can talk some sense into this portion of its membership.