Activist Shaun King has received quite a few nicknames after getting into a war of words with MSNBC host Rachel Maddow Tuesday night.
The entire fracas started when King misquoted Maddow in a tweet, setting off a fierce debate where he refused to back down even after being told he was wrong, Mediaite reports.
BREAKING: @MSNBC & @maddow just reported that multiple “senior officials” within the Democratic Party are interfering with the primaries to stop @BernieSanders.
They reported that the party has asked Bloomberg to drop out so that Biden would have an easier time against Bernie.
— Shaun King (@shaunking) March 3, 2020
Some people on Twitter were quick to point out that King had his facts jacked up. While covering the Super Tuesday election results across the country, Maddow told a panel that sources were reporting that Bloomberg's campaign aides and some Democratic Party officials were pushing him to drop out after a disastrous performance in a number of states.
“The Bloomberg campaign is experiencing intense pressure from multiple sources from inside of the Democratic Party that he needs to quit,” she said on air.
The news anchor was misquoted by King, saying party officials were "interfering with the primaries to stop Bernie Sanders." Maddow declined ever saying that the party asked Bloomberg to drop out so that former Vice President Joe Biden could beat Sanders.
Despite Maddow making the comments on air, King refused to back down even as dozens of Twitter users told him that he was misquoting the news anchor.
Eventually, Maddow herself stepped in.
What?
No. I didn’t report any such thing. https://t.co/qNKo6oWFKc
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) March 4, 2020
Underneath Maddow's tweet, King continued to go at her, declaring that he hadn't misquoted her. He refused to give up on the debate and doubled down despite video evidence of her comments.
You absolutely did.
— Shaun King (@shaunking) March 4, 2020
An uber strange moment.
I quoted @maddow as saying “The Bloomberg campaign is experiencing INTENSE PRESSURE from multiple sources from inside of the Democratic Party that he needs to quit.”
She then says she said no such thing.
It’s a DIRECT QUOTE FROM THE TRANSCRIPT. pic.twitter.com/47jb46GVVe
— Shaun King (@shaunking) March 4, 2020
The situation brought out many of King's detractors, who for years have said he peddles falsehoods and uses his social justice platform to raise money for his own personal efforts.
Why is Shaun King still in any way affiliated with the @BernieSanders campaign? https://t.co/LBrtvmBEOU
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) March 4, 2020
What @ShaunKing doesn’t realize is that @maddow is a principled journalist who does her research.
Her deep dives are legendary.
If she were to decide to look into a few of his failed plans for black folks for an hour on her show, he’d realize quickly how much she DOESN’T lie.
— yvette nicole brown (@YNB) March 4, 2020
Twitter users took the opportunity to hand down hilariously crafted nicknames referencing prominent Black leaders and celebrities, mocking King's political and social activism.
After Shaun King lied about what Maddow said last night & she rightfully called him out about it, a whole new swath of folks are having their eyes opened about who he is. @deray wrote this to lay out in detail what is known about Talcum X. https://t.co/UZD0UxswrY
— April (@ReignOfApril) March 4, 2020
Top 10 Shaun King Twitter Names:
Talcum X
Frauderick Douglass
Martin Luther Cream
Cream Abdul-Jabbar
Plaster P
Snow J. Simpson
Hueless Newton
Alexander Scamilton
Stokely Carbuncle
Blankston Hughes— Keith Murphy (@murphdogg29) March 4, 2020
Nicknames for Shaun King:
Talcum X.
Martin Luther Cream.
Pale Revere.
Tupac Sugar.
Alexander Scamilton.
Chaka Con.
Snow J. Simpson.
W.E.B. Defraud.— Timothy Alvarez (@Father2Abby) March 4, 2020
Talcum X is trending and I am screaming that this nickname for Shaun King has become mainstream ???? Shoutout to his idiotic twitter takes for uniting all races, ages, and sexes in a singular effort to drag him pic.twitter.com/uARYft0Drr
— Deb (@lifewithdeborah) March 4, 2020
Additional nicknames for the great white fraud of black lives matter, Shaun King aka Talcum X:
1. Booker T Whiteington
2. David Bill Duke
3. Malcom Existential Crisis
4. Charles Dingus
5. Schmuck D
6. Lackey Robinson
7. Mr. Rachel Dolezal https://t.co/Ade4Nse4tv— 〽〽〽〽… ????risket (@LosBilbilocos) March 4, 2020
The Ultimate Shaun King nickname thread:
Talcum X.
Martin Luther Cream.
Pale Revere.
Tupac Sugar.
Alexander Scamilton.
Chaka Con.
Snow J. Simpson.
W.E.B. Defraud.
Albino Sharpton
Glowsa Parks
Jamie Chalxx
Mayo Angelou
MiLK
W.H.I.T.E. DuBois
Rice Cube
James Pearl Jones— Alpha Millennial (@AlphaMillennia1) March 4, 2020
Additional nicknames for the great white fraud of black lives matter, Shaun King aka Talcum X:
1. Booker T Whiteington
2. David Bill Duke
3. Malcom Existential Crisis
4. Charles Dingus
5. Schmuck D
6. Lackey Robinson
7. Mr. Rachel Dolezal https://t.co/Ade4Nse4tv— 〽〽〽〽… ????risket (@LosBilbilocos) March 4, 2020
The silver lining for the day is that by going for Beto and Rachel Maddow, Vanigga Ice has pissed enough YT people off to be cancelled!
¡ÓRALE! pic.twitter.com/DjQtF4vHf2
— Fat Canary (@IWriteAllDay_) March 4, 2020
Y’all really shouldn’t be dragging noted mountaineer Shaun King like this ???????? https://t.co/TaSVDYlS3G
— Imani Gandy ???????? (@AngryBlackLady) March 4, 2020
Even King himself noted the jokes being made at his expense.
Some absolutely hilarious disses about me in the trending topic ????????????
I’ve trended dozens of times across the years and have learned to just roll with it at this point!
You grow thick skin and get impervious to it eventually.
— Shaun King (@shaunking) March 4, 2020
At the beginning of the week, the activist was confronted once more by a former campaign staffer for Beto O'Rourke. King claimed that he was being contacted by several of O'Rourke's staffers sharing their disappointment in his decision to endorse presidential candidate Joe Biden.
Former Beto staffer here. I can say with almost complete certainty that none of us would reach out to this guy to speak ill of our old boss. https://t.co/dPNz3Poln3
— Devon Gray (@DevonGrayCA) March 3, 2020
In King's defense, a Twitter user replied with screenshots of people claiming to have worked on O'Rourke's campaign and being upset with his endorsement.
lol I got some bad news pic.twitter.com/mm4639J660
— gato fumador ❼ (@QueenInYeIIow) March 3, 2020
Regardless of King's rights and wrongs, he doesn't appear to shy away from a little controversy and sharing his definition of the truth.
