Responding on Twitter to a Christmas Day family photo shared by Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Liberal commentator Keith Olbermann suggested the Republican get a vasectomy, prompting a furious response.
After Romney posted a photo of his family on Christmas Day, along with the caption “From my family to yours, Merry Christmas!”, Olbermann lashed out on social media, writing, “Somebody gift these people some vasectomies.”
Olbermann received heavy backlash for the comment, with critics calling him “sad” and “sick.”
“Get married and start a #BigFamily like Mitt Romney so you don’t end up childless, alone and miserable like Keith Olbermann,” reacted the conservative American Principles Project, while Republican communications specialist Matt Whitlock wrote, “This guy is just so broken and I hope he gets the help he needs.”
Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also stepped in to defend Romney’s “beautiful family” and “wonderful kids & grandkids,” dismissing Olbermann as an “angry,” “bitter,” and “hateful” man.
A few people agreed with Olbermann, however, arguing that large families were “not sustainable” for the planet and opining that it was “already too crowded.”
Olbermann – a prominent Democratic activist who previously worked for CNN, MSNBC, and ESPN – is no stranger to controversy, and his social media posts have frequently landed him in hot water. Last year, he was accused of racism after he called then-President Donald Trump a “whiny little Kunta Kinte,” in reference to the fictional African slave from the novel ‘Roots’. After a swift backlash, including from racial justice activists, he apologized for the comment.