On July 3, 2024, a Facebook page named America - Love It Or Leave It posted a meme claiming "Dirty Jobs" reality TV host Mike Rowe said, "Maybe if we taught kids a trade instead of pronouns, we wouldn't have to pay off their loans for them."
One commenter under the post said, "Right on Mike!"
Another user added, "Absolutely! These people can only think of themselves! Get a life and stop this stupidity!"
A third person commented, "It should start in the home, parents should teach their children instead of allowing hours and hours of video games!"
Meanwhile, a manager of the Facebook page submitted the top-voted comment. That comment read as follows:
It really is this simple, patriots. You take someone like Mike Rowe, who has a degree in communications and an extensive background in song and dance, and turn him into a blue-collar worker for a TV show. It's almost as easy as turning a failed businessman who managed to bankrupt casinos into a mogul of some sort. You just need the right spin.
Add student debt relief to the 'tEAcH TraDes InSTeAd oF mATh!' slogans and you have a masterpiece of tater bait they just can't resist. God bless America.
As some readers might gather from the page manager's comment, this story was not a factual recounting of real-life events. The America - Love It Or Leave It Facebook page belongs to the America's Last Line Of Defense network of satire and parody websites. According to the page's description, "Nothing on this page is real." The lower-left corner of the meme also displayed a "satire" rating label.
The page manager's comment mentioning "tater bait" referenced the term the America's Last Line Of Defense uses for people who supposedly believe its untrue stories. For example, The Dunning-Kruger Times' website – a website associated with the network of satire and parody – describes "taters" as follows:
"Taters" are the conservative fans of America's Last Line of Defense. They are fragile, frightened, mostly older caucasian Americans. They believe nearly anything. While we go out of our way to educate them that not everything they agree with is true, they are still old, typically ignorant, and again — very afraid of everything.
Our mission is to do our best to show them the light, through shame if necessary, and to have a good time doing it, because…old and afraid or not, these people are responsible for the patriarchy we're railing so hard against. They don't understand logic and they couldn't care less about reason. Facts are irrelevant. BUT…they do understand shame.
For background, here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.