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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott took his Twitter feed to some low places over the weekend when he was duped by a satire website into sharing literal fake news about country music icon Garth Brooks.
Abbott linked to a story about Brooks from a satire website called The Dunning-Kruger Times. If the name alone isn’t enough of a giveaway, the site states outright that it’s part of “a network of parody, satire, and tomfoolery,” and adds: “If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined.”
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The story Abbott shared says Brooks was booed off the stage at the 123rd Annual Texas Country Jamboree in Hambriston, Texas.
But the jamboree isn’t a real event, and Hambriston isn’t a real place ― details that apparently raised no red flags with the governor as he tweeted the story.
“Go woke. Go broke,” Abbott tweeted. “Good job, Texas.”
Texas, for the record, loves Brooks as much as anywhere. He sold out the 72,000-seat NRG Stadium in Houston and the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium in Arlington when his tour visited the Lone Star State last year.
Abbott deleted his tweet, but offered no apology to his constituents or Brooks for sharing the fake report. And while the tweet itself is gone, it was preserved online by a number of people, including Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas):
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— Greg Casar (@GregCasar) June 25, 2023.@GregAbbott_TX just accidentally posted a satire article because he wants to hate on queer Texans and Garth Brooks so bad.
The Texas Country Jamboree doesn’t exist. Hambriston, Texas is not real. And the Governor is not fit to tweet, much less govern.
Happy pride! 🏳️🌈 pic.twitter.com/Q5UJHPf66v
Journalist Christopher Hooks also shared a screenshot of the tweet, and followed up with an excerpt from the story the governor fell for:
this is the very real content of the story that he’s putting out. Possible he’s just not a very smart man. pic.twitter.com/mIXsnWDHv8
— Christopher Hooks (@cd_hooks) June 25, 2023
The Twitter account for the story’s “author,” Flagg Eagleton, is having some fun at Abbott’s expense, noting that he’s the highest-level official to fall for one of his stories so far and calling it some of his “finest work.”
He also tweeted in response to a Daily Beast report:
My journalisticatin' is on point, patriots. It's not my fault they elected a moron.
— Flagg Eagleton (@FlaggEagleton) June 26, 2023
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Brooks has not been overtly political in his music career, but did offer some words of wisdom in a 2020 interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
“My message forever is tolerance,” he told the newspaper. “And don’t vote party, vote person.”
He was a little more explicit earlier this month when discussing his new bar in Nashville. While conservatives are boycotting Bud Light for its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, Brooks said he would serve “every brand” of beer.
“I want it to be a place you feel safe in, I want it to be a place where you feel like there are manners and people like one another,” Brooks told Billboard. “Our thing is this: If you [are let] into this house, love one another. If you’re an a―hole, there are plenty of other places on lower Broadway.”
In a livestream on his Facebook page, he added that he embraced diversity and inclusiveness.
“That’s me,” he said. “That’s always been me.”
Twitter users tore into Abbott for sharing the false report about Brooks:
Greg Abbott duped by fake news story mocking Garth Brooks https://t.co/NyzoTNSE9G What a dumbass. Greg Abbott fell for a fake story about Garth Brooks because it fits his narrative about "woke" and his anti-LGBTQ+ views. The Texas town the concert supposedly took place is not…
— Marty Taylor (@MartyTa94849826) June 26, 2023
Gov. Jade Helm falls for fake website? News at 11. https://t.co/dA1usk4DJL
— Jim Swift (@JimSwiftDC) June 25, 2023
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Hey everyone @GregAbbott_TX finally realized he tweeted out a fake Texas festival…if he’s willing to tweet things that aren’t true how can anyone believe him on his school voucher push?
— Amy Ingram 🦁🏀 (@CoachIngram10) June 25, 2023
— Patti Fink (she/her) (@PattiFink) June 26, 2023Demonstrable proof that .@GregAbbott_TX is too stupid & incompetent to know just how stupid & incompetent he really is.
He’s so desperate to out-DeSantis DeSantis (who is trying to out-Trump Trump) for any chance to hurl “Woke!”
What a mediocre #MAGA idiot gov we have in TX 🙄 https://t.co/qtPmhcts9K
Just to memorialize this for Greg, given he deleted it. Garth, bless you for your work with Habitat for Humanity, your standing up for queer people and so much more, including your songs and performances. pic.twitter.com/BLd7Awrml8
— Rednecklefty (@rednecklefty) June 25, 2023
An imaginary Texas jamboree set in an imaginary Texas town. Yet another public demonstration of the governor’s lack of media literacy and critical thinking skills. https://t.co/1AZKSwhdrS
— Dr. Seema Yasmin is on a media literacy mission (@DoctorYasmin) June 26, 2023
No one will ever confuse @GregAbbott_TX for an intellectual giant. @forbes https://t.co/8isepXWIDT
— Jody Dean (@DFWJodyDean) June 26, 2023
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It's perfect https://t.co/fL2rDvEwAr pic.twitter.com/rX7UvFAyHp
— steven monacelli 🆓 (@stevanzetti) June 25, 2023
Remember that time you fell for a fake article and thought it was real? Good times!. pic.twitter.com/Gt6ip9QSg3
— Scream the Truth 🇺🇸 🌈 (@Merry_Hippie) June 26, 2023
— Mike From Texas (@Sundog512) June 26, 2023Another proud Texas moment brought to you by Greg (Jade Helm) Abbott.
Republican Fake Texas Governor the shameless Greg Abbutt’s propaganda defamed one of our greatest country artists in the United States of America, 🇺🇸 the one and only MR. GARTH BROOKS, with this kind of fake 💩👇🏽👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/19OI7sFx2V
— RC (@RC49256038) June 26, 2023
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