Nebraska football punter Brian Buschini learned this week that there is a drawback to having the eyes of every Husker fan on you. At the same time, he learned that there is a very big drawback to social media every now and then.
The Nebraska football player, who has made a name for himself with his booming punts this season was in the spotlight for a different reason earlier this week. It turns out Buschini tweeted out an endorsement of Giorgia Meloni, the woman who is set to take over the role of Prime Minister in Italy. In the now deleted tweet, the Huskers punter praised her as someone who supported Christian and family values. However, a day later, Buschini felt the need to apologize for that tweet.
“I want to take the time to apologize for a tweet I posted yesterday,” Buschini began in a Tuesday night tweet. I saw a headline from a speech the new Prime Minister of Italy made that seemed to support Christianity and family values.”
The Nebraska football player went on to explain that when he saw the headline and later praised it, he hadn’t looked into what has made Meloni a bit of a controversial figure in geopolitics.
— BRIAN BUSCHINI (@brian_buschini) September 28, 2022
"“I, unfortunately, tweeted about this without knowing the background or history of this politician or the movement she is involved with. In no way do I support fascism or racism in any form. I apologize for posting without understanding the reality of what I was posting about.”"
NBC News reports that Meloni and her party, the Brothers of Italy have been at the center of controversy for quite a while now. The party was tied to a fascist party founded by supporters of dictator Benito Mussolini. More recently one prominent member of that party stepped down from his role a few years ago when comments supporting the Nazis came to light.
While Meloni and others in her group distanced themselves from those remarks, they very publicly advocate for naval blockades to stop unauthorized migration from Africa.
Meloni has also accused her political opponents on the left of a plot to “finance the invasion to replace Italians with immigrants.” These views are a major plank of the “Great Replacement Theory” that some right-wing idealogues have been pushing in the United States as well. The theory claims there is a shadowy organization working to replace white people with minority populations.
Despite the Brothers of Italy getting its start in Fascist ideology and Meloni’s policy ideas that are seen as far right, the soon-to-be prime minister rejects any claim that she or the Brothers of Italy still have any fascist ties. Instead, she’s compared her group to the United Kingdom’s traditionally center-right Conservative Party.
When the Nebraska football punter issued his social media apology, clearly meant to tamp down any political tempest that might have been started from his first tweet, the second post generated its own back and forth.
The comments on Buschini’s tweet were almost totally evenly divided between those who thanked him for issuing the apology and those who claimed the Nebraska football player had nothing to apologize for in the first place.
Others in the comments seemed to be less interested in what Buschini said than in arguing amongst themselves about whether or not Meloni was what her critics have claimed she was.
In the end, the entire situation sheds light on what can happen on social media when someone like a Nebraska football player journeys into political waters on a site like Twitter.