Thomas Massie is a right wing congressman from Kentucky who believes that the 17th Amendment should be repealed and Senators should be chosen by state legislators. He just tested positive for COVID is one of the most vociferous opponents of vaccines. He even angered Trump one time who tweeted that he wanted the GOP to throw him out when he held up the bipartisan COVID relief package back in the spring of 2020. In other words he is an idiot. He’s also an extremist who loves to post offensive tweets.
He later deleted this offensive tweet:
His “philosophy,” such as it is, is pretty obvious. That quote at the top? Not Voltaire:
A May 20 Facebook post claims the 18th-century philosopher said, “If you want to know who controls you, look at who you are not allowed to criticize.” The post has accumulated more than 2,300 interactions.
Voltaire was a critic and public activist, according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, but the quote came more than two centuries after his death.
The quote is from neo-Nazi figure
The original quote is worded slightly differently, according to etymologist Barry Popik, and it’s from a 1993 radio broadcast by Kevin Alfred Strom. Strom is an American white nationalist and Holocaust denier, according to AP News.
“To determine the true rulers of any society, all you must do is ask yourself this question: Who is it that I am not permitted to criticize?” said Strom in “All America Must Know the Terror That Is Upon Us.”
USA TODAY searched Voltaire’s correspondence from 1742-1777 in the University of South California’s digital library but did not find any evidence to support the claim.
Strom, one of the founders of the National Vanguard organization, confirmed in 2017 that the quote is indeed his.
“So it’s pretty clear, even to my critics, that I came up with the idea and the quote — and Voltaire never did,” said Strom in the online post.
Strom said it was “kind of flattering” that his words would be paired with “the name of the man who said such witty things.” […]
The claim that Voltaire said, “To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize,” is FALSE, based on our research. The quote is from American white nationalist Kevin Alfred Strom. In 2017, Strom confirmed the quote is his, with a slight change in the wording.
These right wingers just have an instinct for white supremacist thinking, almost as if these thoughts are their own.