‘Parks And Recreation’ Creator And Cast Slam NRA For Using A GIF Of Leslie Knope

You really have to do something despicable for the cast and creators of a show to come after you for using a GIF. That’s exactly what happened last night when the National Rifle Association tried to make light of the Parkland school shooting town hall on Twitter, and the Parks and Recreation team was having none of it.

On Wednesday night, NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch went on CNN as part of the network’s town hall on school shootings. Loesch delivered the NRA’s anti gun control stance to a aggressively hostile crowd, which included the families and survivors of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting. The spokesperson was heckled all throughout the event, and on several occasions, people in the crowd yelled, “You’re a murderer!”

Right after the event, the NRA decided to thank Loesch on Twitter using one of the most beloved of internet inventions — the GIF, specifically, a Parks and Recreation GIF. The tweet was instantly met with criticism.

A note on the beloved show of Parks and Recreation and Amy Poehler‘s inspirational character: though the series never directly addressed gun violence, it would be insane to think that Leslie Knope, a character who lives for helping people and extensive government reform, would side with the NRA after Parkland.  This runs counter to everything the show establishes about her as a character as well as the entire sweet tone of Parks and Rec as a whole. This was a bad, dumb, borderline cruel tweet that used a beloved franchise to bolster one side’s political point during this emotional and serious time. Children have died, and the NRA wants to make Parks and Rec jokes? For their part the Parks and Rec team let the NRA know hope much they opposed this tweet.

Co-creator and creator of The Good Place Michael Shur gave the most polite response, while also including Poehler’s more direct and less polite response:

Nick Offerman, who played Ron Swanson, and Adam Scott, who played Ben Wyatt, also responded to the tweet:

It’s kind of funny that Offerman’s response is simultaneously wise, kind, and hostile like Ron Swanson’s would be and that Adam Scott’s protection of Poehler feels very Ben-like. Still, it’s a bad tweet they never should have had to respond to. At the time of publication, the NRA’s very bad tweet was still up.

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UPDATE: Now Aubrey Plaza has weighed in on the NRA Twitter drama in the most April Ludgate way — by snarkily supporting Nick Offermen via GIF.

A round of applause to the Parks and Rec cast on this one.

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