Clara Jeffery, editor-in-chief of the liberal news website Mother Jones, has taken a public beating on social media for recently suggesting that Tomahawk missiles might be offensive to Native Americans.
Jeffery, who is not of Native American heritage, speculated that those who actually are Native American might be offended by the name of the cruise missiles, which have been a staple of the United States military for decades. On Saturday, she tweeted that the military's cultural appropriation "must enrage" them.
However, more Twitter users were enraged at Jeffery's one-woman crusade to disparage the U.S.
military over the name of a weapon in the face of a growing global crisis, as Russia, China, Iran and North Korea mull over their responses to the recent U.S. missile attack on Syria.
The far left is not happy about Trump's decision
On Friday, President Trump made the controversial decision to launch a missile strike targeting Shayrat airfield in response to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's use of chemical weapons against his own people. During the strike, 59 Tomahawk missiles were fired from the decks of navy destroyers stationed in the Persian Gulf.
While President Trump's decision earned the praise of several world leaders, as well as several Democratic members of Congress, many members of the far left believe that Trump's decision was unacceptable, since the missile attack was launched without the approval of Congress.
Native Americans put Jeffery in her place
Several Twitter users bashed Jeffery over her self-appointed mission to defend a culture to which she does not belong, arguing that a white woman doesn't have the right to speak on the behalf of other cultures. Many of these responses came from Twitter users claiming Native American heritage.
@ClaraJeffery I'm offended that you think natives need to be told when to be outraged. We can think for ourselves.
— Red blooded American (@bamasooner1) April 10, 2017
@ClaraJeffery What enrages Native Americans is white women telling them how they should feel.
— John Bosch (@JohnBosch68) April 10, 2017
Some raised the question as to why Jeffery didn't seem to have a problem with the name when Barack Obama was still in office.
@ClaraJeffery Were the missiles called something different under Obama?
— Carlos F Salgado (@GreatBigRepub) April 10, 2017
According to Daily Mail, even Donald Trump, Jr. got in on the action, retweeting a response from conservative pundit and talk show host Ben Shapiro, who suggested that, if Native Americans didn't feel honored to have their culture linked to an iconic missile, the Jews would be happy to have their culture appropriated instead.
"I am happy to offer to rename them Hebrew Hammers on behalf of the Jews," joked Shapiro.
If Native Americans want to rename Tomahawk missiles, I am happy to offer to rename them Hebrew Hammers on behalf of the Jews.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) April 9, 2017
Shapiro's response to Clara Jeffery has already been retweeted more than 5,000 times and has garnered more than 19,000 likes, perhaps giving the United States armed forces something to think about when the time comes to name a new weapon.
