The tweet using Cinco de Mayo to advertise Trump Tower Grill quickly became popular on social media. Trump is also known for his love of fast food and eating steak well done with ketchup.
NPR – #MemeOfTheWeek: Donald Trump’s Taco Bowl
Politico – Trump tweets picture of him eating taco bowl, says, ‘I love Hispanics’
CNN – Pictured with taco bowl, Trump proclaims, ‘I love Hispanics!’
During the primaries, Trump attacked Republican Senator Linsdey Graham, who had recently called Trump a “jackass.” Aside from calling Graham an “idiot” and “lightweight,” Trump also gave out Graham’s personal cell phone number.
Politico – Donald Trump gives out Lindsey Graham’s cellphone number
The Hill – Trump gives out Lindsey Graham’s phone number on stage
ABC News – Donald Trump Gives Out Lindsey Graham’s Cell Phone Number
In the 2019 holiday season, conservative social media began buzzing about the omission of a scene in a Canadian Broadcast Company cut of the 1992 film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. The scene features Trump in the Plaza Hotel to give directions to the lead character. After outcry, the CBC revealed that the film had had several scenes cut for time, and that the edit in question had been used in broadcasts since 2014.
Trump joked the controversy, tweeting, “I guess Justin T doesn’t much like my making him pay up on NATO or Trade!” and “The movie will never be the same! (just kidding)”.
Business Insider – Trump tweets that ‘Home Alone 2’ ‘will never be the same’ after report that his cameo was cut in a Canadian broadcast
The New York Times – The CBC’s Cut of a Scene From ‘Home Alone 2’ Draws the Trumps’ Ire
Anthony Scaramucci, a former Wall Street financier, served for a record 11 days as White House communications director.
He replaced Sean Spicer, who resigned after 6 months, and infamously defended verifiable lies from the White House, like claims of mass voter fraud and having the largest inaugural crowd size.
While Scaramucci’s behavior was erratic over the course of his tenure, Trump decided on dismissal after he railed against Chief of Staff Reince Preibus and chief strategist Steve Bannon in a phone call with The New Yorker. Shortly after, Preibus resigned and Bannon was fired.
The 11 day tenure has birthed a new form of measurement, the mooch.
The New Yorker – Anthony Scaramucci Called Me to Unload About White House Leakers, Reince Priebus, and Steve Bannon
Reuters – Trump fires communications director Scaramucci in new White House upheaval
The Week – Anthony Scaramucci measures time in ‘Mooches’
Wikipedia – Anthony Scaramucci
NPR – Trump Chief Of Staff Priebus Is Out — In Biggest White House Staff Shake-Up Yet
The Wall Street Journal – Steve Bannon, Controversial Aide to Trump, Exits White House Staff
After Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg was selected to be Time’s Person of the Year for 2019, Trump responded over Twitter:
Trump’s campaign team also tweeted a manipulated image of the Time cover, placing his head on Thunberg’s body.
Thunberg didn’t reply directly, but updated her Twitter bio to read, “A teenager working on her anger management problem. Currently chilling and watching a good old fashioned movie with a friend.”
The same campaign Twitter account also depicted Trump as Marvel super-villain Thanos, while Trump has displayed fake covers of Time featuring himself at his golf clubs.
The Washington Post – Trump mocks 16-year-old Greta Thunberg a day after she is named Time’s Person of the Year
Newsweek – Trump campaign is using a Photoshopped Time cover of President’s head on Greta Thunberg to solicit text signups
Business Insider – Teenage activist Greta Thunberg changes her Twitter bio to clap back at Trump’s tweet calling her Person of the Year honor ‘ridiculous’
They take a shower and water comes dripping out, just dripping out very quietly dripping out. People are flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once. They end up using more water. So, EPA is looking at that very strongly, at my suggestion.
Reuters – Trump takes aim at trickle-down toilets, faucets
Business Insider – Trump says the EPA is looking ‘very strongly’ at ‘sinks and showers and other elements of bathrooms’ because people are flushing their toilets 10 to 15 times
The Washington Post – Trump Orders Toilet Rule Review Over Low-Flow Flushing
The Twitter account notes that it is “Managed by the #TeamTrump 2020 campaign.”
The use of this particular scene is especially confusing, as it was the moment in the Marvel film Endgame when Thanos discovers he has lost his god-like powers and is immediately defeated.
Jim Starlin, who created the character of Thanos, shared his reaction: “After my initial feeling of being violated, seeing that pompous fool using my creation to stroke his infantile ego, it finally struck me that the leader of my country and the free world actually enjoys comparing himself to a mass murderer.”
The same Twitter account photoshopped Trump’s head over a teenage girl’s from a Time Person of the Year cover.
BBC News – Thanos creator labels Donald Trump a ‘pompous fool’ after Avengers tweet
The Hollywood Reporter – Thanos Creator Feels “Violated” After Trump Campaign’s ‘Avengers’ Ad
Trump said that the police response to the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida was “disgusting.” He claimed that, “I really believe I’d run in there even if I didn’t have a weapon, and I think most of the people in this room would’ve done that too.”
17 people died in what was at the time the second-deadliest school shooting in American history.
10 years prior, Trump recounted to Howard Stern about how he was too disgusted to help an elderly man who had fallen and was bleeding heavily.
The New York Times – Trump Says He Would Have Rushed in Unarmed to Stop School Shooting
BBC News – Florida school shooting: Trump says ‘I would have run in unarmed’
Fortune – Trump Claims He Would Have Personally Stopped Florida Shooter. Critics Aren’t So Sure
The comedy skit in which Trump pretended to harass then-mayor of New York City Rudy Guliani was part of the Mayor’s Inner Circle Press roast, a comedy event.
The drag character, Rudia, had debuted three years earlier at the event when Giuliani appeared on stage in front of 2,000 people in and sang “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” in falsetto.
Giuliani later campaigned for Trump and worked as his personal lawyer.
Business Insider – Donald Trump once stuck his face into Rudy Giuliani’s chest for a drag-queen comedy skit — and the video refuses to die
The New York Times – Jaws Drop As Giuliani Steals Show In Heels
Trump was discussing the possibility of mediating a solution between India and Pakistan over a growing humanitarian crisis in the disputed Kashmir region when a reporter mentioned the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump replied, “I think I’m gonna get a Nobel Prize for a lot of things, if they gave it out fairly, which they don’t.” Trump had been previously nominated by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the request of the US government.
Trump remarked on President Obama having been awarded the prize: “He had no idea why he got it and you know what, that was the only thing I agreed with him on.”
On the subject of negotiations between the geopolitical rivals, Trump said, “I’ve never failed as an arbitrator. I’ve been asked to arbitrate disputes, pretty big ones, from friends. And I’ve done it in a good successful fashion.”
Time – President Trump Insists He Would Get a Nobel Prize, If ‘They Gave It Out Fairly’
The Hill – Trump says he would be awarded Nobel Peace Prize ‘if they gave it out fairly’
The Hill – US asked Japanese leader to nominate Trump for Nobel Prize: report
