A man who was sentenced to prison for posting a meme mocking Hillary Clinton spoke to Tucker Carlson about the case in an interview released Thursday.
Douglass Mackey, who ran a popular Twitter account under the alias Ricky Vaughn, posted a spoof of a Clinton ad prior to the 2016 presidential election.
The fake ad stated, “Save Time, Avoid the Line” and suggested that people could “vote from home.” The meme, which featured an image of Clinton, also said, “Text ‘Hillary’ to 59925 and we’ll make history together.”
The obvious joke was funny until four years later when President Joe Biden took office and Mackey suddenly found himself a target of the Justice Department.
He was indicted, tried in New York City and ultimately convicted of election interference in March.
“Mackey has been found guilty by a jury of his peers of attempting to deprive individuals from exercising their sacred right to vote for the candidate of their choice in the 2016 Presidential Election,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace stated at the time.
Mackey faced up to 10 years in federal prison for sharing the meme but was sentenced to seven months.
Carlson interviewed Mackey before his sentencing and asked why he posted a meme that the federal government would years later find criminal.
“Mostly just ’cause I thought my audience would find it funny,” Mackey responded. He said he did not create the image and shared it as a joke.
WARNING: The following video contains language that some viewers may find offensive.
Ep. 38 The First Amendment is done. Douglass Mackey is about to go to prison for mocking Hillary Clinton on the internet. We talked to him right before his sentencing. Remember as you watch that this could be you.
TIMESTAMPS:
(3:12) The Hillary Clinton meme
(4:20) Hillary’s… pic.twitter.com/MLwz2SboGr— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) November 9, 2023
Carlson then aired a clip of Clinton speaking about Mackey earlier this year. She said his meme crossed a line from “free speech” to a “deliberate effort to mislead people about where and how to vote.”
Clinton went on to accuse Mackey of attempting to “subvert” the election through “algorithms.” Asked to respond to Clinton’s comments, Mackey said, “I don’t even really know what she means by that.”
He told Carlson that he was unaware of the federal investigation into him until, a week after Biden was inaugurated, as many as 10 law enforcement officers, including four FBI agents, pounded on his door with an arrest warrant while he was sleeping.
He said he was not told what crime he was accused of having committed until after he was placed in leg irons in a courthouse holding cell.
Mackey is appealing his criminal conviction.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
