The son of convicted felon and disgraced former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn picked the wrong actor to express how triggered he is by equality and basic human rights for the LGBTQ+ community.
Michael Flynn Jr., a right wing MAGA influencer milking his daddy's former proximity to Trump for all he can grift, took to X early Sunday morning—the first day of LGBTQ+ Pride Month—to make sure everyone knows he's a homophobic and transphobic bigot, as if anyone had any doubts.
Flynn Jr. posted:
"Good morning and Happy Sunday!"
"No quotes today."
"Just wanted to post how I feel about 'pride' month."
It was accompanied by an altered GIF of a scene from Parks And Recreation featuring actor Nick Offerman's character Ron Swanson. The original scene showed the fictional city of Pawnee, Indiana's Parks and Rec department leader tossing a computer into a dumpster.
In the version Flynn Jr. found online, the computer has been very poorly turned into a traditional rainbow Pride flag. (Fabric does not tend to be a stiff rectangle that waves in a nonexistent breeze with electrical cords and cables dangling from it.)
Ron Swanson was a curmudgeon who liked a good steak, woodworking, and aged Scotch whiskey, but unlike Flynn Jr. and his ilk, Swanson was never triggered by the existence of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC people. Swanson was never a hateful bigot.
And the actor who portrayed Swanson for seven seasons wanted the MAGA influencer to know that in terms he could understand.
Nick Offerman retweeted Flynn Jr.'s post with the caption:
"Ron was best man at a gay wedding you dumb f*ck. #HappyPride"
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Even on X, where things have been teetering to the right ever since Elon Musk took over, people appreciated Offerman's blunt response and support for LGBTQ+ equality and Pride Month.
Still desperate for attention, Flynn Jr. tried an appeal to the "alpha male" crowd and reposted the same meme with tags for Offerman and Newsweek.
He captioned his new post:
"Reposting this meme because it apparently triggered the hell out of @Nick_Offerman yesterday"
"And @Newsweek reached out to me for a comment because Nick threw a hissy fit because he’s your typical beta male Hollywood actor who can’t take a joke."
"Poor thing."
"Imagine living a life where a meme pisses you off."
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It didn’t go well, as people even pulled in his namesake father's history of service during the first Trump administration.
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This is not the first time Offerman has stepped out publicly to push back against bigots.
Offerman won his first Emmy Award playing another curmudgeon on HBO’s The Last of Us.
In "Long, Long Time," Offerman starred as Bill, a closeted gay survivalist, opposite Murray Bartlett's Frank. The episode shares their 20 year-long love story.
The Last Of Us got backlash from fans apparently unaware the video game the show is based on has several notable LGBTQ+ characters, including Bill. In response, Offerman addressed their homophobia when he won an Independent Spirit Award for the episode.
Offerman said:
"Thanks to HBO for having the guts to participate in this storytelling tradition that is truly independent."
"Stories with guts, that when homophobic hate comes my way and says, 'Why did you have to make it a gay story?,' we say, 'Because you ask questions like that'."
"'It’s not a gay story. It’s a love story, you a**hole.' So more of that."
Yes, more of that, indeed.
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