The creator behind the popular comic strip “Dilbert” is apologizing to the families of victims of the recent shooting in California after he promoted his new app, which provides a platform for experts to discuss issues over video for money, in the wake of the incident.
Scott Adams told The New York Times that he regretted tweeting Sunday in promotion of his app.
“I dashed off a tweet and did not think about it,” he told the Times in an interview Tuesday.
{mosads}The tweet to Adams’s more than 300,000 followers went out within hours of the shooting in Gilroy, Calif., at a garlic festival that left three dead and more than a dozen others wounded.
“If you were a witness to the #GilroyGarlicFestivalshooting please sign on to Interface by WhenHub (free app) and you can set your price to take calls,” Adams tweeted. “Use keyword Gilroy.”
Social media users took particular issue with the “set your price” line in the tweet that gave off the impression Adams was trying to profit off the tragic incident.
Adams said he specifically regretted that line because his app can also be used without charge for certain interviews.
“I wouldn’t do it the same way again,” he said.
Adams also pointed to the fact that he promoted the app at least twice before on social media following natural disasters and did not receive any backlash.
After receiving pushback for the controversial tweet, with more than 1,300 comments mostly calling him out for the insensitivity of the post, Adams posted a 55-minute video to his Twitter denouncing the “fake outrage,” saying it is due to his support of President Trump.
“What this is about is Trump,” Adams said in the video. “All of the pushback I’m getting is fueled by an intense hatred of Trump, or therefore for anyone who has ever said anything good about Trump. It also is about gun control, and it’s about people feeling helpless to be able to do something about it.”
He told the Times that he did not vote for Trump in 2016 to avoid perceptions of political bias but considers himself an admirer because of the president’s communication methods.
“He is more persuasive than any public figure I’ve ever seen,” he said of Trump. “Early on in 2015 I saw his skill set and thought no one has that skill set. You can’t recognize persuasion unless you’ve studied it.”