By Dustin Rowles | Politics | April 26, 2019 |
By Dustin Rowles | Politics | April 26, 2019 |
The thing about Donald Trump that’s really infuriating is that he is very good at defining his opponents, typically in very sophomoric and offensive ways, but also in ways that are easy to remember. Because Donald Trump’s brain is addled, he repeats himself over and over and over, until the nickname invariably sticks, and the more the left gets pissed off about it, the more it sticks: Crooked Hillary, Pochahantas, Little Rocket Man, etc. It’s so effective that even those on the left use Trump’s nicknames against Republicans who were his former opponents: Lyin’ Ted, Little Marco, etc. It’s what Trump does: He’s like a bad local commercial jingle: They’re awful, but they work. How many people from my generation can still remember what this phone number is for: 800-588-2300? I took a lot advertising and marketing classes as an undergrad, and they encourage actually this sort of thing, particularly with local ads or radio ads. It doesn’t matter how bad or obnoxious it is, it only matters if people remember it. That’s why radio commercials are cluttered with horrible hookworms.
We like to think of Trump as made of Teflon and that nothing sticks to him, but that’s because no one has successfully launched a sustained single-minded attack on Trump. There’s so much wrong with Trump and his Presidency that no one can agree on one thing on which we can attack him. Also, everyone has a nickname for Trump — I tried to get Donny Trash going in 2016 — but there are so many that no one nickname seems to want to stick.
Until now.
George Conway, the husband of Kellyanne, tweeted this out yesterday, and hell if it didn’t stick:
Deranged Donald is at back at it again. Deranged Donald can do things like this and it’s not even the top of the news, because it gets lost beneath all of the other deranged things Deranged Donald does. #DerangedDonald https://t.co/Us2LnIthVb
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) April 25, 2019
By midday it was trending, not just here, but in the UK:
Whoop whoop! My fellow Americans….it’s trending here across the pond. Well done! #DerangedDonald pic.twitter.com/0r9Q4i6Esq
— Mrs.KreeMcGree (@kreemcgree) April 25, 2019
In fact, it rose to number two worldwide:
Gotta love this: I’m an Aussie living in France and this incredible #DerangedDonald hashtag is now number two worldwide! pic.twitter.com/J7SoWocCOt
— Kath Lockett (@KathLockett) April 25, 2019
It is sophomoric? Sure! But is it easy to remember? Absolutely. And it was started by the husband of one of Trump’s closest advisors, so all the better. And the #DerangedDonald tag has been fun to check in on, and it was still going this morning when our Commander in Chief misspelled a five-letter word.
“President Donald J. Trump is the greatest wall builder that I know of in the history of the United States. A few miles of dilapidated fencing was replaced in tha last two years but no funding for new barriers has been agreed.” Cheif (sic) Wall Confabulator , USA! #DerangedDonald pic.twitter.com/KctwR3WE3R
— Joe Mojito Shed ðŸ–ï¸ðŸŒ¹ (@redactednerd) April 26, 2019
1. It's *CHIEF*, moron. It's a goddamn 5 letter word. 2nd grade level at best, Spanky McSpellbad.
— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) April 26, 2019
2. You paid $2M dollars for a dead Otto Warmbier. That's dealmaking at its worst.
3. We prefer Presidents who get our hostages back ALIVE.
4. #DerangedDonald
I saw that #DerangedDonald was trending this morning, but I didn't think #DerangedDonald would STILL be trending now. I'm pretty sure that #DerangedDonald has already seen #DerangedDonald trending. It must really upset #DerangedDonald.
— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) April 26, 2019
Imagine if #DerangedDonald trended 2 DAYS. https://t.co/SzrkooX2mq
The mainstream press has also picked up on it.
#DerangedDonald makes The Washington Post… https://t.co/ovx8VH6B7G
— Bryce Tache 🇺🇸 (@brycetache) April 26, 2019
So, this will play out in one of two ways: A reporter asks Trump about it, and he responds negatively and gets all pissed off and defensive, in which case it finally sticks. Or the goddamn deplorables find a way to own it.