On Wednesday night, the National Rifle Association thanked Dana Loesch for representing them at a town hall event hosted by CNN. And the cast and crew of Parks and Recreation were not happy about it.
The town hall was put together as a discussion about gun violence and what can be done to prevent future tragedies such as the recent Parkland school shooting that left 17 dead, including 14 students.
And Loesch was ill-equipped to engage angry teenagers who are more thoughtful and intelligent than she is.
Emma Gonzalez, a Parkland survivor, demanded to know if Loesch would support making it more difficult for people to access assault weapons. In response, Loesch whined about how the background check system is “flawed” even the though the NRA opposes stronger background checks.
Loesch clearly evaded the question, so Gonzalez called her out. Loesch refused to answer, telling Gonzalez that she is there to represent 5 million NRA members.
And that’s when Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel humiliated her. Israel said:
“You just told this group of people you’re standing up for them. You’re not standing up for them until you say, ‘I want less weapons.’”
Despite this embarrassing appearance, the NRA thanked Loesch on Twitter anyway using a GIF featuring Leslie Knope from Parks and Recreation as portrayed by Amy Poehler.
.@DLoesch thank you for being the voice of over 5 Million #NRA members. pic.twitter.com/WDz7vujXfM
— NRA (@NRA) February 22, 2018
Poehler did not approve of the NRA’s use of the meme, and since she doesn’t use Twitter, she asked series creator Michael Schur to deliver a message on her behalf, which he did:
Hi, please take this down. I would prefer you not use a GIF from a show I worked on to promote your pro-slaughter agenda.
Also, Amy isn’t on twitter, but she texted me a message: “Can you tweet the NRA for me and tell them I said fuck off?” https://t.co/YXSdzCdvdd
— Ken Tremendous (@KenTremendous) February 22, 2018
Schus would go on to donate to the March for Our Lives campaign in which students across the country plan to protest against Congress’ inaction to prevent future shootings.
I just donated to March For Our Lives in the name of Leslie Knope, and if you liked Parks and Rec, and get annoyed when dark money-funded pro-slaughter groups like the NRA appropriate its characters on twitter, I hope you will too. https://t.co/5JAy6jRWfT
— Ken Tremendous (@KenTremendous) February 22, 2018
Even Nick Offerman, who played libertarian Ron Swanson on the show, had strong words for the NRA and Loesch.
.@NRA @DLoesch our good-hearted show and especially our Leslie Knope represent the opposite of your pro-slaughter agenda – take it down and also please eat shit. ?? https://t.co/Ar2YF4yoic
— Nick Offerman (@Nick_Offerman) February 22, 2018
Clearly, the Parks and Recreation cast opposes the use of their show as a political prop for NRA use. It particularly upsets Poehler because her likeness is used specifically in the GIF.
And Poehler does not want to be associated with the NRA and their gun agenda, just like most sane Americans.
Featured Image By Amy Poehler Via Wikimedia Commons/CC-By-SA-2.0.
