A Tennessee gas station with a history of running pro-Donald Trump signs posted a video ad Saturday mocking Hunter Biden and blaming his father, President Joe Biden, for "high" gas prices.
The Lewis Country Store in Nashville posted the meme-like video of Biden's 51-year-old son smoking a cigarette in a bathtub during a purported crack cocaine binge several years ago.
The large electronic sign featured the caption, "Hope gas prices don't get too high," in an apparent reference to both the Colonial Pipeline shutdown and Biden's drug addiction struggles following the death of his older brother, Beau, in 2015.
The pipeline shutdown after last week's cyberattack caused a gas price spike, prompting some drivers in states including Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia to stockpile gas and diesel.
Price hikes and reports of price gouging occurred in several states that typically receive gas from the massive 5,500-mile Colonial Pipeline.
I thought that gas station pic with Hunter was fake, but this guy RECORDED it!! 😂😂 Bless this ballsy gas station! 🇺🇸⚔ pic.twitter.com/PHfAlTxBZv
— Coyote Outlaw (@ThatF_ckerYote) May 15, 2021
The large digital sign changes over to show an empty fuel gauge superimposed above the 2020 presidential logo for the Biden/Harris campaign.
Social media posts of the sign also showed an image of Fox News host Tucker Carlson laughing. Finally, the image of Biden smoking in the bathtub appears with the "high" pun.
The Lewis Country Store location had its corporate Shell backing withdrawn in 2016 after the owners ran a message which said, "Trump Just Said It. Bill Clinton Did It! The Only P***y Trump Ever Grabbed was Paul Ryan! #TrumpThatB***h."
In response, the Lewis family owners placed signs on their gas pumps which read, "Due to our refusal to remove our pro-Trump sign, Shell has de-branded us. We will not be threatened or intimidated. Our doors will remain open. Vote Trump on Nov. 8th so this does not happen to you," according to the Nashville Scene.
Earlier this year, the gas station drew ridicule and praise for posting a debunked meme which appeared to show Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar loading an AK-47 in Somalia—her birth country. "Here is your precious Muslim congresswoman at an Al Qaida training camp in Somalia. She is trying to get this picture blocked," the gas station owners falsely claimed.
Numerous leaked images of Biden emerged prior to the November presidential election last fall, including several which appeared to show him amid a crack cocaine and alcohol binge.
The voyeuristic images of Biden were reportedly pulled from a laptop which had been obtained by Trump personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. A separate picture of Biden appearing to sleep with a crack pipe in his mouth also emerged, along with an image of his teeth having rotted as a result of this drug-addled period in his life.
Biden released a candid, tell-all autobiography last month which revealed his struggles with addiction following his brother's death from cancer in 2015. The tales of debauchery and drug-addled behavior prompted scorn from many Trump supporters and conservative critics of his Democrat father, who defeated the former president in the 2020 election.
While some pro-Trump residents took to social media to commend the Lewis family owners for this week's "ballsy" meme message, other Nashville residents described the gas station as a perpetual "embarrassment" to locals.
Newsweek reached out to the Nashville gas station and country store owners for further comment. This story will be updated with any response.
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Benjamin Fearnow is a reporter based out of Newsweek's New York City offices. He was previously at CBS and Mediaite ... Read more
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