State Rep. Regina Huff garners national, international attention over meme

State Representative Regina Huff, R-Williamsburg, has received state, national and international media attention for retweeting, and then sharing on Facebook, a meme comparing Dr. Antony Fauci to Jonestown, Guyana cult leader Jim Jones.

The meme in question features a photo of Jones, who, in 1978 convinced more than 900 inhabitants of Jonestown to ingest Kool-Aid laced with cyanide and a sedative in order to avoid murder at the hands of unnamed intelligence organizations.

In a tape recovered from the site of the mass suicide, Jones is heard telling his followers that armed members of the organization would be parachuting into the compound to shoot or torture the members.

Fauci, who has been viewed as the leading medical expert on COVID–19 since the pandemic began in 2020, has been that national voice under both the Trump and Biden administrations regarding countermeasures.

The meme written on Jones’ photo is, “I persuaded over 900 people to drink my Koolaid.”

Under Fauci’s photo it reads, “Amateur…”.

Stories on Huff’s Tweet have appeared in the Louisville Courier-Journal, WKYT, NBC News, and Britain’s Daily Mail website, published a story Wednesday night.

Huff has since removed the Tweet, explaining that the comments from those, who disagreed, had cross the line and were filled with vulgarities.

“No one from the far left has written and just said that they have a disagreement with me over the meme,” Huff said.

As of Thursday afternoon, the meme remained on Huff’s Facebook page.

Huff explained that the meme was not meant to disparage the efforts to get as many people as possible vaccinated.

“I don’t care if you take the vaccine. You have the right to choose,” Huff said. “The message of the meme was totally misconstrued.

Huff said the message she was attempting to spread is that you cannot live your life in fear.

“The message was totally misconstrued,” Huff said. “It made it something to be that it’s not.”

“Whether you are controlling for good or for evil, you are still controlling with fear. And we can’t live like that,” Huff said.

Huff, who serves as the House Education Committee Chair, said things got heated when she posted the meme soon after learning that several teachers in the Jefferson County Public School System had voiced concerns about returning to in-class instruction.

“The Tweet was to say, we can’t be led by fear,” Huff wrote in a Facebook response. “Our students need to return to the classroom. Trying to stop their return based on fear is going to have adverse effects.”

The comments on Huff’s Facebook post concerning the meme have been positive.

“I am with you 200 percent! School needs to be restarted,” wrote Sheila Davis of Williamsburg. “We cannot hide in fear.”