Former Giants first baseman Aubrey Huff made national news with a tweet sent out from his official Twitter account on Monday, that featured a picture of Huff holding a paper human silhouette shooting target with multiple bullet holes in it, with the following caption:
“Getting my boys trained up on how to use a gun in the unlikely event Bernie Sanders beats Donald Trump in 2020. In which case knowing how to effectively use a gun under socialism will be a must. By the way most the head shots were theirs. @NRA @WatchChad #2ndAmendment”
Getting my boys trained up on how to use a gun in the unlikely event @BernieSanders beats @realDonaldTrump in 2020. In which case knowing how to effectively use a gun under socialism will be a must. By the way most the head shots were theirs. @NRA @WatchChad #2ndAmendment pic.twitter.com/6xUsS7ciX3
— AUBREY HUFF (@aubrey_huff) November 26, 2019
The tweet sparked nearly 33,000 comments — as opposed to 1,400 retweets — many critical in nature, and a handful from public figures.
Wait, and I'm being serious here, why do you think you'll need a gun if Bernie Sanders becomes president?
— david cross (@davidcrosss) November 27, 2019
As a proud military veteran and former Army grunt, I would be concerned about Aubrey Huff's threatening other Americans like this, but his shot grouping and general marksmanship are so bad in this picture that the only thing under threat at the moment is his dignity. https://t.co/faBvumVYwK
— Charlotte Clymer?️? (@cmclymer) November 27, 2019
Another fake tough guy out here. I’d encourage you to travel to the Scandanavian countries and see the high quality of life they have there instead of spouting Fox News propaganda bullshit.
— Alejandro Bedoya (@AleBedoya17) November 27, 2019
well if career numbers are any guide, you have less than a 1-in-3 chance of hitting anything
— Lupus Haas (@Mobute) November 26, 2019
if everyone has free health care we'll all be able to just shoot each other for fun with no consequences. good thinking man
— Jon Bois (@jon_bois) November 26, 2019
This dumb f**k right here. https://t.co/WgDgUL1eOd
— Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) November 26, 2019
Uh huh. Not everyone is pearl clutching over your veiled threats. Which this certainly was. Ur threatening to hurt people if America changes in a way you don’t like. We hear you, an NO ONE is afraid. I got my first shotgun when i was 7. Enjoy ur under seasoned turkey tomorrow. https://t.co/AraPInmqR8
— VanLathan (@VanLathan) November 27, 2019
Huff doubled-down on his position in the face of the social media backlash, calling his gun range outing an “amazing bonding time for dads and sons.” He then posted the following tweet on Wednesday, saying that although he’d been reported to both the FBI and Twitter for his post, he’s been informed by the website that he’s not in violation of their policies.
For all you that reported me to the FBI, and Twitter I’m happy to report I flew today & got to my destination with zero security problems. Also had 100’s of emails from @Twitter that say I violated zero of twitter’s posting rules. Thanks for all your concern! Happy Thanksgiving pic.twitter.com/tTSHivG7Ps
— AUBREY HUFF (@aubrey_huff) November 27, 2019
This is far from the first time Huff has been involved in a controversy sparked by his tweets. In 2017, he made comments praising President Donald Trump’s executive order banning travel from seven majority-Muslim countries, and was critical of the protests that followed. He later deleted and apologized for the tweets, although stood by his political beliefs.
Later that year, Huff posted multiple tweets about how he no longer believes in evolution after looking into “real evidence.”