Keith R Swank: Pro-gun, anti-trans Republican mercilessly trolled after Nashville shooting tweet
Keith R Swank called for teachers to be armed after Nashville shooting. (Credit: Keith R Swank / Facebook)
The name of a pro-gun Republican – who called for teachers to be “armed” – has become the internet’s newest obsession.
In the wake of the tragic Covenant School shooting in Nashville, GOP candidate Keith R Swank tweeted: “TEACHERS. SHOULD. BE. ARMED.”
The shooting took place on 27 March where three staff and three children were killed by 28-year-old Audrey Hale, who used he/him pronouns, and who was subsequently shot dead at the scene.
It has been widely reported that Hale lived in Nashville and attended the school as a child.
The Republican has also tweeted a number of anti-trans comments.
Swank’s pro-gun tweets, where he also called “an armed society is a polite society”, came under fire from those seeking stronger gun laws in the US, as well as being jumped on by Twitter’s resident memelords.
Users on the platform were quick to point out that Swank’s middle initial and surname, when run together to create a portmanteau, sound distinctly like the slang for buttocks and the widely-used term for a solo sexual act. Say it out loud, in full, and it’ll make sense.
The memes following this were endless.
Twitter user LauraSco88 wrote: “This fella tweeting a horrifying take, yet being focused on purely for his ridiculous yet hilarious name, is peak #BritishTwitter and I am absolutely here for it.”
“Hey everybody, do I have a Keith A**ew**k here?,” jgraver7 wrote alongside an image of The Simpsons character Moe Szyslak holding his bar’s phone.
The meme is an ode to the well-known gag where Bart Simpson rings Moe’s Tavern and asks to speak with a patron with a particularly ridiculous name.
Jack Tindale said: “Sorry, but in a million years I could never have come up with Keith A**ew**k as a parody name for an American conservative. Too implausible.”
“The name’s A**ew**k. Keith A**ew**k,” Dave Pugsley wrote with a black and white image of Sean Connery as James Bond.
“A teacher called Keith A**ew**k would absolutely need to be armed,” a fifth user quipped.
R Swank responded with a meme of his own, claiming he doesn’t think of England “at all”.
