Trump's 'Moot' Typo Sends Twitter Into Meme Overdrive
President Donald Trump is once again accusing the media of “Fake News!” This time, it’s over a story reporting he wanted to fortify the U.S.-Mexico border with a snake-filled moat.
But an unfortunate typo is making Trump’s claim “moot” ― literally.
The New York Times published an article late Tuesday reporting that the president had discussed some very extreme measures to prevent migrant border crossings, including shooting immigrants in the legs and the aforementioned moat stocked with snakes or alligators.
On Wednesday, Trump sought to deny the story. But when he tried to spell things out on Twitter, he misspelled “moat” as “moot” in a now-deleted tweet.
But screenshots live forever!
As is typical when the president tweets a typo, the reaction was fast, furious and snarky.
Mr. President, are you suggesting that your Moat is Moot? https://t.co/xoXJFdM7R6
— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) October 2, 2019
Moot suit riot: https://t.co/aZSzwNkswf
— Laura Walker 🍸🇺🇸 🏴 (@LauraWalkerKC) October 2, 2019
No Moot, No Moot! YOU'RE THE MOOT. pic.twitter.com/fVPRVbKWDc
— Finbarr Doyle HALLOWE'EN EDITION (@Fdoyle) October 2, 2019
One person predicted Trump’s tweet, even though it’s been deleted, will have one major effect:
.@MerriamWebster will have a trending tweet defining "moot" by lunchtime
— Joseph Beaver, Misanthrope-ologist (@JosephBeaver) October 2, 2019
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He Has 9 Billion Dollars
In a tasteless boast, Trump went on to reveal he refused a bank's loan of $4bn. He said: “I don’t need it. I don’t want it. And I’ve been there.”
While millions of Americans continue to suffer the effects of sluggish economic growth, Trump is blissfully unaffected. Well, that's how he makes it sound.
But He's Never Used A Cash Machine
During an appearance on 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien', Trump said that he'd never seen the need to use ATMs, all the while hinting at his extraordinary wealth.
He Gets Super Defensive About Money
But unlike those struggling to make ends meet, Trump is more concerned with the perception of his wealth, which he says is "more than $9 bn".
When an author suggested Trump had a net worth of less than $300m, the property tycoon sued him for libel.
Yet during testimony, Trump admitted his own estimations depend on his "feelings".
It was reported Trump said: "Yes, even my own feelings (guide estimates of my wealth), as to where the world is, where the world is going, and that can change rapidly from day to day."
Trump lost the libel case.
He's Leading A Fact-Free Campaign
In a remarkable exchange with FOX News host Bill O'Reilly, the famously impertinent presenter took exception to flawed statistics banded about by Trump.
O’Reilly: This bothered me, I gotta tell ya. You tweeted out that whites killed by blacks — these are statistics you picked out from somewhere — at a rate of 81 percent. And that’s totally wrong. Whites killed by blacks is 15 percent, yet you tweeted it was 81 percent. Now …
Trump: Bill, I didn’t tweet, I retweeted somebody that was supposedly an expert, and it was also a radio show.
O’Reilly: Yeah, but you don’t wanna be. … Why do you want to be in that zone?
Trump: Hey, Bill, Bill, am I gonna check every statistic? I get millions and millions of people, @RealDonaldTrump, by the way.
O’Reilly: You gotta, you’re a presidential contender, you gotta check ’em.
He Takes His Name Way Too Seriously
J. Taikwok Yung, a self-described "domainer" from Brooklyn, NY, was hauled before judges after Trump noticed he'd bought up a huge amount of his brand online.
Trump sought the maximum damages allowed - $100,000 for each of the four Trump-related domain names bought by Yung.
And he had legal grounds: Trump is a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Organisation and is adorned on many a high-stakes casino, and several hotels.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
