Hey friends, I woke up to some angry messages over this screenshot from a tweet I wrote from back in May, so I'd like to revisit what happened and again apologize to those who have every right to be upset by what appears to be me mocking people for contracting COVID. (thread) 
At the time, my sole purpose was to slam Trump and GA Gov. Brian Kemp for their catastrophic handling of COVID. I was angry over their response and the way they've ignored scientists, and this was my smug attempt to point out just how incredibly wrong and irresponsible they were.
It didn't even cross my mind--not even a little--that people would interpret this as anything OTHER than slamming Trump and Kemp because who would mock anyone (other than dangerous assholes like Trump and Kemp) for contracting COVID?
Of course, my intent didn't make it any less clumsy and hurtful to those who saw this and thought that some asshole outside of Georgia was mocking victims--a higher rate of whom are BIPOC--being devastated by this pandemic.
It came across as incredibly insensitive and racist and cruel and on the whole just a horrible response to a tragic situation. At the time, I was mortified and heartbroken when I realized how much harm I had caused, however unintentionally. I still am. Harm doesn't need intent.
So, not long after, back in May, I deleted the tweet, and I apologized for it:
That's all I could do. Just try to explain my poor decision making and why was it unintentional and apologize for the harm I directly caused people.
https://twitter.com/cmclymer/status/1257110820846292992?s=20
That's all I could do. Just try to explain my poor decision making and why was it unintentional and apologize for the harm I directly caused people.
I was raised in the South from a family raised in the South going back generations. I was raised in poverty, and we didn't have access to quality health care. I detest the way that people in the South are often framed as deserving of the misery experienced under GOP leaders.
And I would never make a claim that anyone living in these states--whether they be framed as "red states" or under GOP leadership or conservative areas--are deserving of the pain and misery of living there. That's where I grew up in an impoverished family.
I should never have assumed that people would know my background or my intent and just take this tweet in good faith and assume I was criticizing GOP leadership. It was a horrible lack of judgment, and I deserve to be criticized for it.
I went down to Georgia in 2018 to campaign for Stacey Abrams. I have a lot of friends from GA and, of course, family and friends from the South and "red states" generally. I have never--not once--thought anyone living in the South is inviting tragedy. That's my home.
Numerous times, I have criticized people who mock those who live in and grow up in conservative areas, particularly in poverty, like I did. Vulnerable people are never to blame for the destruction and pain they experience under exploitive and irresponsible leaders. Ever.
And yet, none of that excuses the fact that I couldn't take five seconds to consider how that tweet would come across, that I just unconsciously assumed that people would get what I was saying. Because again: what monster would mock vulnerable people for getting COVID?
So, once again, I am incredibly sorry for the harm I caused with this tweet. It was unintentional, and all I can do is once again apologize and acknowledge the pain I caused those who see it. Words matter and they endure. And if I have to apologize again, I will do that. /thread
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