An X account overseen by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) faced backlash Thursday after it tried rickrolling those seeking the highly-anticipated (and subsequently disappointing) release of documents tied to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The House Judiciary GOP account, representing the majority of a committee chaired by Jordan, shared a post that claimed the “EPSTEIN FILES” were released alongside a shortened URL link that read “EpsteinFilesV2.”
The link — veiled to appear as if it was tied to files that President Donald Trump’s Justice Department began sharing to conservative influencers — instead redirected X users to Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” music video, the focus of a meme that’s nearly old enough to vote in elections.
The post, which can be viewed here, has since been deleted.
X users, including right-wing accounts, slammed the committee over the post as others made nods to ex-Ohio State University wrestlers’ allegations that Jordan was aware of sexual abuse complaints against a team doctor when he was a coach at the school.
“Sorry. I’m confused. You’re telling me a committee headed by The Honorable Rep. Jim Jordan would try and muddy the waters about known sexual predators? pff. No way,” wrote Clifton Adcock, an investigative reporter at The Frontier.
Another user wrote, “An official government account headed by Jim Jordan is trolling in regards to child sex trafficking using a decades old meme. Where is the protect the children crowd?”
Wall Street Apes — an account that’s pushed misinformation, perAFP, and is followed by the likes of Elon Musk as well as Donald Trump Jr. — also blasted the “absolutely unbelievable” post from the House Judiciary GOP.
Christina Pushaw, rapid response director for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 2024 presidential campaign, simply replied, “There’s still time to delete this.”
You can check out more reactions to the House Judiciary GOP post below.
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