Every year, NPR reads (and lately, tweets) the Declaration of Independence to celebrate the Fourth of July. It’s a time-honored tradition but, this year, for some reason, a truly depressing number of people took it the wrong way. The Declaration was, of course, a call to arms—a rallying cry to overthrow tyranny and establish a new government in its place.
Given that modern American culture is wildly politicized and all too often poorly informed, it’s perhaps not surprising that a lot of people interpreted the tweets as a publicly funded media outlet encouraging citizens to rebel against President Donald Trump.
Upworthy journalist Parker Molloy was the first to notice the trend.
https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/882404690352320514
https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/882405812811042816
https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/882407038755713027
https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/882407312157278208
A lot of people were just really confused.
https://twitter.com/Deplorable_JJ/status/882399283286335490
https://twitter.com/darren_mills/status/882332109796384772
At least one guy was willing to own up to his mistake after he got called out on it. Live and learn.
https://twitter.com/JustEsrafel/status/882402984600186881
