The Conversation (0)
Politics
Sinead Butler
Jun 10, 2021
Republican congressman, Peter Meijer holds the paper clip to his head to debunk vaccine conspiracy theory
Twitter/RepMeijer
A Republican congressman has posted a hilarious response to a conspiracy theorist who believes vaccines are magnetising people.
Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer shared a comedic video of himself to Twitter debunking this theory.
“I’m gonna try something out real quick,” he says as he places a paper clip on his head.
Inevitably, we find out that the Meijer is not in fact magnetic when the paper clip falls off his face.
He makes a second attempt, again no magnetising here.
Undeterred by his previous failures, the congressman grabs a bunch of metal clips and smashes them into his head, failing once more as the dropped to the ground.
Meijer then looks at the camera and raises his eyebrows to highlight the stupidity of this conspiracy theory.
https://t.co/b2XaZPQAyY https://t.co/m1fHZhxrbN— Rep. Peter Meijer (@Rep. Peter Meijer) 1623259806
The Republican has since received over 15,000 likes for his sassy reaction, with people finding Meijer’s video amusing, and also getting in on the joke.
@RepMeijer You may think this is a joke sir, but look whwt happened to me when I walked past a construction site af… https://t.co/pJi8HqtRQE— itsa me, Mario (@itsa me, Mario) 1623263852
@RepMeijer @jaketapper Who's to say it can't be a new mode of transportation. 😂 https://t.co/gLAoy0sua5— Pro-Democracy Warrior (@Pro-Democracy Warrior) 1623261315
@RepMeijer I was disappointed to see this turned out not to be true . I’m always losing my keys and it would have b… https://t.co/0k3NbcqiZd— SeanMon (@SeanMon) 1623263697
@RepMeijer @jbarro How you think THIS stays on!? Neat trick but I'm on to you congressman. https://t.co/FG7RDhslWm— Craig Breske (@Craig Breske) 1623260345
While others who don’t necessarily agree with Meijer’s political affiliation, still appreciated Meijer taking a stance against anti-vaxxers.
@RepMeijer This is good. We may disagree on many different policies, but I appreciate this video.— Chris Zadorozny (@Chris Zadorozny) 1623265719
@RepMeijer I love this guy….he is a republican i could actually have a valid conversation about any issue we may no… https://t.co/uRWLsIMRRN— ERB (@ERB) 1623284507
@RepMeijer Dude , I like you just become a Democrat. You’re far too reasonable to be a Republican— Ouch that hurts! (@Ouch that hurts!) 1623269653
The video Rep. Meijer is trolling is from a hearing in the Ohio House where anti-vaccine doctor Sherri Tenpenny was invited to give her testimony.
Tenpenny is notorious for spreading unproven claims about vaccines.
She warned legislators that people who get vaccinated could be “magnetised” because “the protein has a metal attached to it.”
“I’m sure you’ve seen the pictures all over the Internet of people who have had these shots and now they’re magnetized,” Tenpenny said.
“They can put a key on their forehead. It sticks. They can put spoons and forks all over them and they can stick because now we think that there’s a metal piece to that.”
People online have been discussing the clip from the hearing, criticising Tenpenny and those at the hearing for not calling out her baseless claims.
What is most disturbing here is the woman in the back nodding along sensibly when the speaker says people are becom… https://t.co/evBWuIfXXz— Karly Matthews (@Karly Matthews) 1623258763
@karlymatthews_ The major problem here is that the speaker sounds like she's credible. She sounds like a person cap… https://t.co/zIkidHJWd0— Kaz (@Kaz) 1623270514
@karlymatthews_ Why, in the name of all that is holy, did nobody LAUGH OUT LOUD at this utter nonsense? Why was th… https://t.co/wsfXZYuq9z— Nightowl (@Nightowl) 1623306650
@karlymatthews_ What the heck is wrong with these people??? https://t.co/t14iOL4CVq— El Guapo de Santa Poco (@El Guapo de Santa Poco) 1623282106