The wrestling organization once known as the WWF introduced The Iron Sheik as its champion back in 1983. Iranian actor Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri played the wrestling character spawn from the U.S.’s continued tensions with that Middle Eastern nation.
Thirty years later, the same wrestling organization is using a Tea Party stand-in as its latest villain.
Appearing on Monday Night Raw last week, [Jack] Swagger and [Zeb] Colter were booed by the crowd as they overzealously talked about the Constitution, the scourge of illegal immigration, and “true patriotism.” Other promotional videos of the two show them talking about freeloading immigrants and welfare recipients in front of the Gadsden flag, which has become symbolic of the Tea Party movement.
The new storyline quickly drew the ire of conservatives on Twitter, especially since the WWE tried attaching Rush Limbaugh to the characters in question.
It’s hard to imagine a bigger PR blunder. Expect a mea culpa any minute now.
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