Sometimes, it doesn’t pay to share all of your opinions with the internet. Henry Winkler is learning that the hard way this week. It is important to note that, by many accounts, Winkler is a generally well-intentioned guy by many accounts. However, you know what they say about good intentions and the road they pave.
Yesterday, Henry Winkler shared an opinion that caused some serious backlash from his fellow Twitter users. In the tweet, he said that it would take a “cataclysmic event,” to heal the division in the world.
“We are So divided as a country,” Winkler wrote. “Only a cataclysmic Event , that makes us depend on one another again , can bring us back together.”
At just about any other point in history, the tweet could have gone unnoticed. However, we’re looking at what is hopefully the tail-end of a global pandemic. It killed millions of people around the globe. So, many are pointing out that the last year has, in fact, been pretty cataclysmic.
Twitter Reacts to Henry Winkler
Author and Gaslit Nation co-host Sarah Kendzior summed up how some Twitter users felt after reading the tweet. She said, “There is a global plague and the ocean is on fire and infrastructure is collapsing and autocracy is rising and violent insurrectionists stormed the Capitol and none of those cataclysmic events united us.” She concluded with, “I’ll just assume you know something about the UFOs and call it a day.” Many of the Twitter users calling out Winkler cited the pandemic among other events over the past year to highlight how wrong they felt he was.
A tweet from a user called Digby Bamford pointed out what they think the real problem is: the media. Digby said, “Until America reckons with the fact an Australian media mogul, Rupert Murdoch & his son Lachlan run their media empire in order to divide people in any way possible, even cataclysmic events will not fix the problem.”
However, some of the folks in Henry Winkler’s replies highlight the division that needs to be healed. Many of those resort to blaming the political party with which they do not hold an affiliation for the division. Make no mistake, these tweets come from both sides of the aisle.
On the other hand, some of Henry Winkler’s followers kept their disagreement light-hearted. Two satirical parody accounts lobbed jokes in Winkler’s direction. They weren’t angry screeds. However, the fact that they disagree is clear. The Devil said, “You watching Armageddon again? It inspires me too!” Ironically, the other account with a humorous take is the God satire/parody account. They replied, “What do you need? I gotchu, but just know nothing will work lol.”
