Donald Trump Jr. Sensationally Self-Owns With Pulitzer Gaffe Worthy Of Own Prize
Donald Trump Jr. deserves some kind of award for his latest spectacular self-own. But not a Pulitzer.
President Donald Trump’s eldest son was mercilessly mocked on Twitter on Friday after he chimed in on his father’s criticism of The Washington Post and The New York Times.
The president slammed the two newspapers for their reporting on Russian interference in the 2016 election, which led them to share the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting.
So funny that The New York Times & The Washington Post got a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage (100% NEGATIVE and FAKE!) of Collusion with Russia - And there was No Collusion! So, they were either duped or corrupt? In any event, their prizes should be taken away by the Committee!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2019
The Pulitzer Committee praised the publications for their “relentlessly reported coverage in the public interest that dramatically furthered the nation’s understanding of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and its connections to the Trump campaign, the President-elect’s transition team and his eventual administration.”
Trump, however, demanded Friday that “their prizes should be taken away by the Committee!” as he further tried to skew the narrative on the conclusion of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
Attorney General William Barr released his summary of Mueller’s report from the inquiry last weekend. He said Mueller had determined that the Trump 2016 campaign did not collude with Russian officials but that there was insufficient evidence on whether Trump had obstructed justice.
Democrats are demanding the release of Mueller’s full report. Trump and right-wing commentators continue to spin the summary as a victory.
The Times hit back to say that every article cited as part of its award “has proven accurate.”
We're proud of our Pulitzer-prize winning reporting on Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election. Every @nytimes article cited has proven accurate. https://t.co/NvG27oeuNv
— NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) March 30, 2019
The Post’s Josh Dawsey said “not a single prize-winning story had a substantive correction.”
Not a single prize-winning story had a substantive correction. https://t.co/oqr5Ok5Qvw
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) March 29, 2019
But the newspaper’s responses did not come before Trump Jr. backed his dad with this ill-conceived tweet:
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He’s right... unless they give Pulitzer’s for fiction. #fakenews https://t.co/TN5CE84tvw
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 29, 2019
“He’s right… unless they give Pulitzer’s for fiction,” wrote Trump Jr., who in recent days has teased the idea of a future run for office and has caught heat for giving an interview to a far-right conspiracy theory-peddling website which has previously called former President Barack Obama “a demon from hell.”
Of course, there is a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. And Twitter users ― including Vietnamese American author Viet Thanh Nguyen, who won the prize in 2016 for The Sympathizer ― were quick to point it out:
Actually, I think I won one of those Pulitzers for fiction @DonaldJTrumpJr
— viet thanh nguyen (@viet_t_nguyen) March 30, 2019
If you come across this and the tweet was deleted, it was Don Jr. trying to make a joke about the WaPo getting a Pulitzer for fiction but not realizing that Pulitzers actually are given out for fiction. https://t.co/S1Liigw8SU
— Casey J. Wooten (@Casey_J_Wooten) March 30, 2019
| ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄ ̄|
| THEY |
| DO |
|______|
(\__/) ||
(•ㅅ•) ||
/ づ https://t.co/kvt9ZlEAx8— Funny Or Die (@funnyordie) March 29, 2019
Nailed it, Junior
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) March 29, 2019
They give them to people who know the difference between plural and possessive. https://t.co/igVIE1afP7
— Randi Mayem Singer (@rmayemsinger) March 30, 2019
Hey @DonaldJTrumpJr - they do give out Pulitzers for fiction. One of my favorite applies to you - "A Confederacy of Dunces." Bless his heart. https://t.co/JFg8idqC0c
— Brian J. Karem (@BrianKarem) March 30, 2019
This tweet deserves a Pulitzer. https://t.co/bxMYCiCggM
— Zach Heltzel (@zachheltzel) March 30, 2019
oh my god, of course they do https://t.co/jUSxSNlJhu
— 🍃🍁🐕Patrick Lenton🌚🍁🍃 (@PatrickLenton) March 30, 2019
This tweet is a gift. https://t.co/IvoRjrSJne
— jason polan (@polan) March 30, 2019
I hope they do a skit on S&L about this. https://t.co/XWhWIiYmh4
— Ron Marz (@ronmarz) March 30, 2019
What's next, Oscars for films? https://t.co/WHoidhgoRU
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) March 30, 2019
They also give Emmys for television shows. Your dad has none.
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) March 29, 2019
They really don’t read any books in that family or know how to use punctuation. https://t.co/KwzRm3yMJA
— Robin Beth Schaer (@robinschaer) March 30, 2019
— Dan Ozzi (@danozzi) March 29, 2019
They do, and the apostrophe is unnecessary in that context.
— Jared Lipof (@jaredlipof) March 30, 2019
Just gonna put this right here https://t.co/fvHfpK1FTh
— Amy Westervelt (@amywestervelt) March 30, 2019
Lol. Master of the self-own 😂
— Dave Hanson 🌊 (@skylinkdave) March 29, 2019
1: Pulitzers, no apostrophe
2: James Agee
Saul Bellow
Geraldine Brooks
Robert Olen Butler
Michael Chabon
John Cheever
James Gould Cozzens
Michael Cunningham
Junot Díaz
Anthony Doerr
Allen Drury
Jennifer Egan
Jeffrey Eugenides
William Faulkner
Richard Ford
Shirley Ann Grau— Sean Woodrunner (@Sean_Woodrunner) March 30, 2019
Does Don Jr. not know that there's a Pulitzer for Fiction? https://t.co/B7xo6EZnaV
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 29, 2019
This is the tweet equivalent of a failed Shooter McGavin burn
Shooter: “yeah, right, and Grizzly Adams had a beard.”
Trevino: “Grizzly Adams did have a beard.”
(They do give Pulitzer Prizes for fiction). pic.twitter.com/kEnGvOfq6r— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) March 30, 2019
"To Kill A Mockingbird" won a Pulitzer in 1961. You should check it out.
— Simon Hedlin (@simonhedlin) March 29, 2019
if batman dresses like a bat and spider-man dresses like a spider, why doesn’t iron man dress like an iron? makes you think
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) March 29, 2019
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.