The Onion jokes about death of heroic father slain by assassin at Trump rally: 'Pure evil'



The Onion, a Chicago-based liberal satire publication that was recently purchased by longtime Democratic donor and Twilio co-founder Jeff Lawson, stooped to a new low Tuesday in a desperate attempt to score points against President Donald Trump.

The satire publication made a punchline out of the death of Corey Comperatore — a heroic former firefighter who died trying to save his family from bullets intended for Kamala Harris' political opponent.

During the presidential debate, Harris said, "I'm gonna invite you to attend one of Donald Trump's rallies because its a really interesting thing to watch."

Harris suggested that those in attendance will notice "people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom."

The Onion tweeted, "FACT CHECK[.] Trump: 'People don't leave my rallies.' TRUE: They're carried out in body bags."

On July 13, failed assassin and ActBlue donor Thomas Matthew Crooks fired several shots at Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

'Pure evil.'

Crooks only hit the ear of the man Democrats had characterized as a "clear and present danger." However, his trigger pulls still left one American family without its patriarch.

Dr. Jim Sweetland, an emergency department physician, told CBS News that he had attempted to save a man shot at the rally, who suffered a gunshot wound to the head and collapsed between the bleachers.

"There was lots of blood," said the doctor. "I looked up to see his family, who witnessed my efforts and resuscitation, and the look on their faces said it all."

When the gunshots first rang out, Comperatore, the former fire chief for the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company, used his body to shield his wife and daughter.

Allyson Comperatore told ABC News last month, "As he was throwing me down, that was when he was shot. He ended up falling onto me. I was like, confused, and I went, 'Dad?' And when I turned is whenever he fell down and that's when I started screaming."

Helen Comperatore, the victim's wife, emphasized, "He definitely was a hero. He saved his wife. He saved his child. He was just the best guy."

While the Onion's joke at the expense of the late hero and his surviving family members may have privately resonated with leftists, it was met with widespread ridicule online.

"Shame on you," tweeted Libs of TikTok. "This is evil."

Conservative filmmaker Robby Starbuck responded, "Delete this. People are grieving you evil ghouls."

Starbuck noted in a subsequent message, "Making fun of people who were murdered is absolutely disgusting in every way @theonion. Imagine the family members seeing this while still grieving a senseless murder driven by extremist political hatred against Republicans. Pure evil."

"There's a debate between Trump and Kamala tonight and you chose to make fun of a fireman who was shot in the head while sitting next to his family," wrote Colin Rugg, co-founder of Trending Politics.

The Onion was acquired by a firm known as Global Tetrahedron earlier this year.

Extra to former Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson — an individual who recently was seen partying with the Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson — Axios indicated that the individuals behind Global Tetrahedron are former NBC News reporter Ben Collins, former TikTok executive Leila Brillson, and former Tumblr executive Danielle Strle.

Brillson is the Onion's chief marketing officer. Strle is chief product officer. Collins serves as CEO.

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PETA wants people to stop referring to the baseball  'bullpen,' suggests using the term 'arm barn' instead



People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is advocating for the pitching area in baseball, known as the "bullpen," to henceforth be known instead as the "arm barn."

The bullpen is the area where the pitchers warm up before heading out to play in the game.

PETA says the term "refers to the holding area where terrified bulls are kept before slaughter," and the organization has put forward "arm barn" as a suggested replacement.

PETA also takes issue with other commonplace expressions which it claims "perpetuate speciesism."

"People are striving to eradicate racist, sexist, homophobic, and ableist phrases (or team names) from our common language. But unfortunately, many of us also grew up hearing phrases that condone violence toward animals and perpetuate speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. Sayings such as 'kill two birds with one stone,' 'beat a dead horse,' 'bring home the bacon,' and 'bullpen' all normalize violent acts against some of the most defenseless members of our society," according to PETA.

“Bullpen” refers to the area of a “bull’s pen” where bulls are held before they are slaughtered—it’s a word with sp… https://t.co/kWxYNhUljV

— Arm Barn (@peta) 1635438408.0

Unsurprisingly, many people on Twitter thought the suggestion to switch to the term "arm barn" was quite comical.

Blaze Media social media editor Jessica O'Donnell wrote that "peta is easily the best comedy account on twitter."

"This really feels like something that would be in @TheOnion," someone opined.

"I'm not convinced that PETA isn't just a bunch of trolls and possibly the greatest comedic geniuses of our time," another tweet said.

"'Arm Barn' is a hilarious and therefore objectively superior name," another person posted.

"One of the few remaining bipartisan trends in America is people from all walks of life thinking @PETA is a joke," Frank Luntz tweeted.

"now warming up in the arm barn" "who is that warming up in the arm barn?" please name it this!!! 🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/h4OOcCkBzB

— Clint Frazier (@clintfrazier) 1635445329.0

Twitter users pounce on CBS News over article titled, 'How climate change helped strengthen the Taliban'



A number of Twitter users pounced on CBS News in response to a tweet linking to an article titled, "How climate change helped strengthen the Taliban."

Much attention has recently been focused on Afghanistan where the Taliban has seized control. The U.S. is currently scrambling to evacuate its citizens and others, and the Biden administration has been subjected to significant criticism for bungling efforts to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and for the ensuing chaos.

CBS News indicates in the article that climate change has benefitted the Taliban.

"Rural Afghanistan has been rocked by climate change. The past three decades have brought floods and drought that have destroyed crops and left people hungry. And the Taliban — likely without knowing climate change was the cause — has taken advantage of that pain," the article begins.

The piece states that "climate change has made farming increasingly difficult" in Afghanistan. Here's more from the article:

Whether from drought or flood-ravaged soil, farmers in the region struggle to maintain productive crops and livestock. When they cannot profitably farm, they're forced to borrow funds to survive. When Afghans can't pay off lenders, the Taliban often steps in to sow government resentment.

"If you've lost your crop and land or the Afghan government hasn't paid enough attention [to you] then of course, the Taliban can come and exploit it," said Kamal Alam, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center.

The Taliban has capitalized on the agricultural stress and distrust in government to recruit supporters. Alam said the group has the means to pay fighters more, $5-$10 per day, than what they can make farming.

Many social media users criticized CBS News in response to the outlet's tweet sharing the article.

"Can someone make me feel better and tell me US journalism has hit rock bottom with this piece? Please? Someone?" one tweet read.

"CBS, America's Most Watched Network, runs with *climate change is helping the Taliban* I had to double check if I was reading @TheOnion Nope. It's really @CBSNews," another tweet declared.

@CBSNews CBS, America's Most Watched Network, runs with *climate change is helping the Taliban*I had to double ch… https://t.co/QpeDTXnuLe

— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) 1629490597.0

"Is this Babylone Bee or what?" another person said.

"@CBSNews is a deeply unserious organization," a different tweet said.

"Exhibit A as to why people dislike and do not trust the media," another user declared.

But not everyone attacked CBS News in the Twitter comments.

"This article seems… fine. What's the problem?" a tweet inquired.

"People in these replies should actually read the article - it makes perfect sense and makes a good point," another tweet stated.