- A TikToker visiting the US said there were "too many American flags" in the country.
- The video circulated on social media and she was criticized, and later deleted her account.
A woman who shared a TikTok criticizing the number of flags in the US appeared to delete her account after she was met with backlash, which included a public post from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott who told her to go back to Australia.
In the since-deleted clip, a creator by the name of @meanderwithmia said, "I'm just gonna say it, there are too many American flags," adding that she'd see flags everywhere — on houses, cars, and couch cushions — and the US was the only country she knew that did this.
In comparison, she said the only time she could recall seeing the Australian flag was on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, in Sydney, Australia, and as a result, she only vaguely knew what it looked like. However, she could draw the American flag from memory as she'd seen it so many times.
"It's enough, let's pull back on it, OK, let's stay humble," she said at the end of the video.
The video is no longer available to view on TikTok, but multiple viewers reacted to the clip in their own videos that featured the clip and expressed their disagreement by shaking their head in response, donning stars and stripes, or calling the TikToker out for not knowing her own flag.
The clip was then re-shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, by user @wilderpatriot on August 13, where it received even more ire.
—wilder (@wilderpatriot) August 13, 2023
The re-shared clip received over 3.4 million views and over 1,000 quote-posts, many of which were very hostile to the TikToker, as users made derogatory comments towards her and told her to leave the US.
On August 14, Abbott re-shared and reacted to the video on his personal X account, which has over one million followers, where he wrote, "Go back to Australia," alongside eight American flag emojis. Abbott's post received three million views, and what appeared to be unanimous agreement in the replies. Abbott did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
—Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) August 14, 2023
One TikToker got caught in the crossfire as some confused her with the Australian uploader as they shared a similar username.
The user goes by @meander.with.mia, while the watermark on the controversial video showed a user with the same handle minus the periods.
She posted a video on August 16 in which she addressed the camera and said that coincidentally she was an American living in Australia, but she was not the person who made the original video and noted the punctuation in her username.
@meander.with.mia Hi all! Super awkward making videos of myself.. even dropped my phone oops. Anyway, I’m not the girl you think I am. Stop being mean to me, ok thanks ❤️ Also I’ve had this social media handle for years and I love it so I’m not changing it! I’d tag the girl you’re all angry with so she could apologize but she’s deleted her socials. #meanderwithmia ♬ original sound - Mia
"So if you guys could stop harassing me and sending me messages that would be great," she said in the video, and added she would tag the original TikToker, but she had "deleted all of her socials."
She did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Insider was unable to reach the creator of the original video for comment.
For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.