Former Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney started trending on Twitter after his daughter Liz Cheney uploaded a photo of him wearing a mask. Liz Cheney, who is a GOP representative from Wyoming, captioned the post with the sentence: “Dick Cheney says WEAR A MASK” along with the hashtag #realmenwearmasks.

Dick Cheney says WEAR A MASK. #realmenwearmasks pic.twitter.com/iBfVoa7ypL

— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) June 26, 2020

​The Cheneys’ concern for the health of their compatriots backfired, however. The post received almost 13,000 comments, most of which were highly negative. First users spoke about the former vice president’s push for the invasion of Iraq in 2003, which ultimately led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and destabilised the Middle East. Back in 2003, Cheney insisted that Baghdad possessed weapons of mass destruction and had collaborative ties with Al-Qaeda, claims that were later disproven by investigation.

He should be wearing cuffs for war crimes.

— Cernovich (@Cernovich) June 26, 2020

Dick Cheney doesnt want coronavirus to end up killing more young men than he did.

— Michael Malice (@michaelmalice) June 26, 2020

Netizens then reminded Liz Cheney that her father supported torture during the questioning of terror suspects.

Or what? He'll let the government waterboard me?

— Rachel Wilson

​And then they recalled a hunting accident that Cheney was involved in 2006. Back then, he shot Texas attorney Harry Whittington with a shotgun during a quail hunt. Both men insisted that the incident was an accident, however contradictory testimonies of witnesses present at the scene sparked rumours and the incident became the subject of numerous jokes in popular culture.

Wear a mask or dick Cheney will shoot you in the face https://t.co/6x7z4Z30um

— Badonka Boots (@Dusty_Cupcakes) June 26, 2020

The CDC recommends that if you are with Dick Cheney, you wear a bullet-proof mask. pic.twitter.com/5pEbGa3Hjd

— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) June 26, 2020

​At the same time, some users contended that it’s vitally necessary to wear masks in public to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The United States has the highest number of cases (2.5 million) and the largest death toll, and has recently seen a dramatic increase in infections.

If you don't wear one, you are actually a worse human than Dick Cheney.

— The Third Physical Distancer of the Apocalypse (@john_cross_) June 26, 2020

Poster Comment:

Tony Heller @Tony__Heller
Jun 26

Replying to @Liz_Cheney:

Real men look at data, and see that COVID deaths in the US are rapidly declining towards zero. I'm very proud that so few people here in Wyoming fall for your fear mongering.