North Carolina gun shop puts up controversial billboard calling four Democratic congresswomen ‘idiots’ sparking outrage
MURPHY, NORTH CAROLINA: An advertising company based in North Carolina has been asked to take down a gun shop ad that called four freshmen congresswomen of color as the "4 Horsemen" and termed them "idiots."
Shortly after the advertisement was put up on a billboard, it was slammed as "dangerous" and "violent" by anti-gun violence and civil rights activists.
The controversial advertisement for Cherokee Guns features photos of Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), who are all popularly known as "the Squad" in Washington.
The ad reads: "The 4 Horsemen Cometh," making an apparent reference to the biblical four horsemen of the apocalypse.
In the ad, the word "Cometh" is crossed out and is replaced with the words "are idiots."
The language in the billboard advertisement was condemned by the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence who called it "disgusting anti-government violent rhetoric," according to the HuffPost.
The group, in a Facebook post, wrote: "Threats against members of Congress, particularly minority members are [on the rise] and it is driven by the president’s racial rhetoric. This is dangerous!!!”
A national civil rights organization, Muslim Advocates, also criticized the ad for promoting violence against the four congresswomen.
The ad comes shortly after President Donald Trump had written a racist tweet about the four congresswomen, saying that they should "go back" to their countries, despite all of them being American citizens and elected members of Congress.
The ad company behind the gun shop, Allison Outdoor Advertising, after facing heavy backlash, on Wednesday, July 31, said that it would be taking down the ad from the billboard.
The company, in a statement, wrote: "For all those who have concern over the Cherokee Guns Artwork. The board is coming down. This Creative never came on managements desk for approval. We understand this is a delicate subject and we greatly apologize for it ever going up." The company, however, did not mention when would it remove the ad.
The gun shop, located in Murphy, however, appeared unfazed by the backlash over the ad as it released a statement on Monday, saying that it would be printing the same ad on bumper stickers and give out to people for free.
The shop, in a statement on Facebook, said: "Due to OVERWHELMING demand, you may come by the shop (next week) and get your very own FOUR HORSEMEN COMETH STICKER...simple...eat a piece of bacon...tell us you’re voting for Trump in 2020...then get your limited edition bumper sticker!" The post also stated that "snowflakes and Liberals are not eligible."