A well-known right wing social media account has called out a California Lutheran University professor over supposed online comments on the Trump assassination attempt, but both the educator and the school say the post at question is fake.
The school says police are investigating after Libs of TikTok falsely implied that exercise science professor Louise Kelly had made “inappropriate and intolerable” comments.
On Monday, the Libs’ X account reposted images that a separate, less followed account published first. The photos appeared to show that Kelly commented on Facebook that she wished former President Trump would be killed in a future assassination attempt and that she’d do it herself if she “wasn’t so far away.”
According to Mark Berry, a spokesman for Cal Lutheran, Kelly said she never made those comments, adding that, upon closer inspection, it appeared to both the professor and the university that the image with the comments was doctored.
Libs of TikTok tagged both Cal Lutheran and the Secret Service in its post and above the original social media post wrote “Hi @CalLutheran this one of your employees?” The Libs’ post received 1.3 million views as of Wednesday evening, drawing outrage online and in real life. Citing “social media reports,” the Ventura County Republican Party on Tuesday called for Kelly to be fired.
In a statement on the social platform X, the university said Kelly had “contacted the police regarding her legal options” over the “fraudulent” comments.
“Cal Lutheran is also in communication with local authorities regarding this egregious action and ensuing comments against Professor Kelly and the institution,” the statement said.
Berry said Kelly was not conducting interviews.
Libs of TikTok is run by a woman named Chaya Raichik and posts right-wing and anti-trans content. According to a 2022 profile in the Washington Post, the account has been “an agenda-setter in right-wing online discourse.”
An email sent to two addresses listed on the Libs of TikTok account seeking comment was not immediately returned.
After putting out a news release Tuesday calling for Kelly to be fired, the Ventura GOP put out a second one later that day. In it, Executive Director Joe Piechowski said the party had heard back from Cal Lutheran and, “based on what they have told us, I look forward to seeing the resolution of the police investigation and having those responsible brought to justice.”