It’s a now-familiar pattern: Someone reaches national prominence, and all of a sudden problematic old social-media posts magically “resurface” to knock them off their pedestal. Kevin Hart, Kyler Murray, Israel Broussard, and even random noncelebrities with a few too many Instagram followers. The trope is so predictable, it’s got its own memetic slang: milkshake duck.
Last week, it became Nick Sandmann’s turn. The MAGA-hat wearing Covington Catholic High School student unwittingly found himself the subject of national controversy after a viral video showed him smiling while a Native American activist, Nathan Phillips, banged a drum in his face. By now, no serious person still believes that Sandmann accosted and harassed Phillips, as multiple videos show the activist approaching Sandmann and other Covington students, who were themselves already being harassed by a group of Black Hebrew Israelites. (What’s more, it’s since been revealed that Phillips, who helped peddle the original, false version of events, has a record of embellishing his service record as a U.S. Marine.)
