IN times of moral panic, Julia Hartley-Brewer's name is not the first that comes to mind when seeking some guidance.
These unprecedented times have called for unprecedented measures and the news that Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been hospitalised with coronavirus is a reminder that the disease doesn't discriminate.
It has led to some to take to social media to distastefully wish ill upon him.
Hartley-Brewer, quite rightly, pointed out that the PM is not just an elected politician that many didn’t vote for and that no matter how ideologically opposed you are to him, he is also a father and a fiancé to expectant mother Carrie Symonds.
Just a reminder that Boris Johnson is not just the Prime Minister of our country (even if you didn’t vote for him), he is also a father, a father to be, a fiancé and someone with family and friends. He’s a fellow human being and he is desperately ill. Just try to remember that.
— Julia Hartley-Brewer (@JuliaHB1) April 6, 2020
However with the internet being the internet, it hit back.
Whether they immediately trawled through her tweets or had the receipts saved from a few years back, many on Twitter quickly pointed out her hypocrisy.
READ MORE: 'Clap for Boris' campaign trends on Twitter
It turns out that the conservative commentator didn’t afford former Cuban leader Fidel Castro the same sympathy.
In fact, she could hide her “delight” when Castro died in 2016.
Hartley-Brewer tweeted at the time: “Delighted to hear Fidel Castro is dead.
Delighted to hear Fidel Castro is dead. Amazing how many on the Left defend him because Cubans had decent schools & hospitals. As I saw...
— Julia Hartley-Brewer (@JuliaHB1) November 26, 2016
“Amazing how many on the Left defend him because Cubans had decent schools and hospitals.”
Screenshots of the respective tweets have been placed side by side and shared multiple times.
Hartley-Brewer responded: “Getting so many of these tweets today.
“The hard left seem to think a democratically elected PM’s life has moral equivalency with those of murderous dictators who enslave whole nations.
“So, for the record, I’m glad Castro, Mao, Hitler, Stalin, Saddam, Gaddafi et al are all dead.”
But it seems her lack of sympathy for those who have just died extends well beyond murderous dictators.
In 2013 three days after the tragic death of Glee actor Cory Monteith, who was 31 years old at the time, Hartley-Brewer tweeted: “Once again I find it hard to conjure up much sympathy for a rich celebrity who kills himself with hard drugs… Sorry. #CoryMonteith.”
Once again I find it hard to conjure up much sympathy for a rich celebrity who kills himself with hard drugs... Sorry. #CoryMonteith
— Julia Hartley-Brewer (@JuliaHB1) July 16, 2013
When challenged, she responded: “Heartless or just honest?
“A rich successful actor is not a victim. He made a choice. It was a bad choice and cost his life.”
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