Trolls, bullies and even a Labour mayor have published shocking social media posts aimed at Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is currently battling the coronavirus in intensive care.
Whilst supporters and even opponents of the PM have joined forces to wish him well, with some pledging to take part in a "Clap For Boris" tribute.
But others have said the Tory leader deserves his fate, whilst others have wished harm or even death upon him.
Sheila Oakes, Mayor of Heanor, in Derbyshire, wrote a Facebook post which said: "Sorry, he completely deserves this and he is one of the worst PMs we’ve ever had.”
Comedian Siobhan Thompson, a writer on the hit show Rick & Morty, also tweeted: "Boris Johnson to be visited in hospital by three ghosts of people who died unnecessarily because of his cuts to NHS funding."
She went on to say he "deserves every blunt needle he’ll get".
Ken Klippenstein, an American journalist, told his 200,000 Twitter followers: "I don’t like Boris Johnson but I think we can all agree that him being sick is funny."
He added:"Boris Johnson called for a plan that sought to let people get sick and could've killed millions; he bragged about coronavirus not stopping him from shaking people's hands.
"If you can't understand why some people are gonna find this funny, I don't know what to tell you."
Hundreds of less prominent accounts also tweeted posts too vile to publish calling for Boris' death and celebrating his illness.
However, supporters of the PM and even his enemies also used the hashtag #getwellsoonBoris to wish him well.
Conservative Party member Darcy Iveson-Berkeley tweeted: "Boris Johnson has kids and a pregnant fiancé at home.
"If you're wishing him death right now because of his politics, there's something wrong with you. There is a time for politics. And there's a time to be human. Check your moral compass."
Journalist Ian Fraser added: "it's one of the rare occasions when I'd genuinely like to wish Boris Johnson all the best. #GetWellSoonBoris."
Nadine Dorries, who also battled Covid-19, tweeted: "Boris has risked his health & worked every day on our behalf to lead the battle against this vile virus. Lets do our bit for him and Carrie Symonds now. Send them our love #getwellsoonBoris."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel