Donald Trump Claims "Islam Hates Us," Sparks Exasperated Twitter Hashtag #NextLevelTrump
Donald Trump may have out-Trumped himself Wednesday when he claimed during a CNN interview that "Islam hates us."
@realDonaldTrump: "I think Islam hates us" http://cnn.it/224itue http://cnn.it/1R87ibW
"There's something there," he told Anderson Cooper. "There's a tremendous hatred there. There's a tremendous hatred. We have to get to the bottom of it. There is an unbelievable hatred of us."
The logical fallacy of suggesting an entire religion has the sentient agency to not only hate, but to hate "us" — the U.S., a country that boasts about 3.3 million Muslims among its citizenry — is matched only by its demonstrable falsehood.
But that, America, is why we have Twitter: to explain the inexplicable, to simplify the un-simplify-able.
Writer and artist Hend Amry started #NextLevelTrump. Amry tweeted the following shortly after midnight Eastern time:
Islam (which is apparently a sentient being) hates you. YOU. Is this peak Islam bogeyman? How ever will he outdo himself? #NextLevelTrump
The hashtag was quickly picked up by other Twitter users, who similarly adopted Trump's framing of Islam as a sentient being capable of individualized thought, feelings and progressively irritating — and controversial — actions:
@LibyaLiberty Islam hates fanny packs. #NextLevelTrump
@LibyaLiberty Islam calls your ex at 1 a.m. and pretends to be you. Also leaves just 1 sip of milk in carton. #NextLevelTrump
Islam hates comb-overs. #NextLevelTrump
Sometimes, these even verged on the unforgivable:
Islam hates Star Wars. #NextLevelTrump
And the rest, as they say, is history:
@LibyaLiberty Islam hates 10 Items Or Less Checkout Lane #NextLevelTrump
Islam hates Lady Gaga. Michael Jackson is just Makrooh though. #NextLevelTrump
Islam caused global warming #NextLevelTrump
Islam drains up your iPhone battery quickly. #NextLevelTrump
Islam is the reason why you've stopped going to the gym #NextLevelTrump
Islam ate my homework #NextLevelTrump
Islam killed Bambi #NextLevelTrump
It would all be fun and games if Trump was not also the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination.
The businessman and reality TV star has earned the ire of Muslims across the U.S. for his vocal Islamophobia over his campaign, having suggested on separate occasions that Muslims should have to enter their names in a registry so the government could track them and that the U.S. temporarily ban all Muslims from entering its borders.
A striking number of Trump primary voters have also said in exit polls that they support Trump's proposed Muslim ban, while supporters at Trump's rallies have made headlines for their hostile treatment of Muslim attendees.
The hashtag is #NextLevelTrump — but considering how low he's sunk already, it's difficult and frightening to imagine what that "next level" really looks like.