Ever since Donald Trump took office, there’s been one way to know the weekend has officially started–when Trump goes on an unhinged Saturday morning tweetstorm.
The first weekend of 2018 was no different. Sometime around 7:30 a.m. Eastern, the man who is nominally the most powerful person in the world fired off this.
Now that Russian collusion, after one year of intense study, has proven to be a total hoax on the American public, the Democrats and their lapdogs, the Fake News Mainstream Media, are taking out the old Ronald Reagan playbook and screaming mental stability and intelligence…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018
….Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart. Crooked Hillary Clinton also played these cards very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018
….to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius….and a very stable genius at that!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2018
Trump was trying to respond to numerous questions that have been raised about his mental stability in recent weeks. Specifically, a bizarre interview with The New York Times that took his own staffers by surprise, and anecdotes from Michael Wolff’s new book, “Fire and Fury,” portraying Trump as a child trapped in a 71-year-old body.
If Trump was hoping that these tweets would convince us that any questions about his mental state were fake news, it didn’t work. Twitter has spent most of the day pillorying him. And the criticism came from both sides of the aisle.
nothing says "I am very sane" like an elliptically punctuated megalomaniacal rant https://t.co/yrudZFubZI
— Anthony Oliveira (@meakoopa) January 6, 2018
I have seen lonely drunk men bragging about their high school sports career with more humility than this.
— Emily G (@EmilyGorcenski) January 6, 2018
"The thing I admired most about his staggering, earth-bestriding, frightening genius was its total and complete stability."
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahNRO) January 6, 2018
You’re not very sharp, are you?
— Trey Collier (@colliertrey) January 6, 2018
— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) January 6, 2018
— Philip Bump (@pbump) January 6, 2018
The best way to convince people you are a stable genius is to frantically insist on it in hysterical tones. https://t.co/dwkoQQnR0l
— Amanda Marcotte (@AmandaMarcotte) January 6, 2018
Also, no surprise, folks: Trump is lying again. His 2016 run was not his first time running for president. He ran in 2000 and dropped out when he realized he was going to lose the Reform party nomination.
— Amanda Marcotte (@AmandaMarcotte) January 6, 2018
One hint that a public figure may be mentally unstable: He feels obliged in an emotional tweet to defend his mental stability and even describe himself as a "very stable genius." No, that's not normal. https://t.co/ZPg8OQsiLy
— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) January 6, 2018
Only an unstable moron would call himself a stable genius. Our national security is in the hands of an insecure President, who is a danger to us all. #stablegenius
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) January 6, 2018
A stable genius: does not gamble with the stability of a nation; does not rant against different opinions; does not threaten the world with the size of his “button”; does not put his interests before the nation’s interests; and more importantly, doesn’t brag about his geniality.
— Vicente Fox Quesada (@VicenteFoxQue) January 6, 2018
Dear Mr. President,
A good rule of thumb is that when you've got it, you don't have to say it. People know. That holds true for wealth, compassion, faith, and yes, being a "very stable genius." Sincerely, Dan— Dan Rather (@DanRather) January 6, 2018
By Saturday afternoon, the hashtags “#stablegenius” and “#VeryStableGenius” were heavily trending on Twitter, along with a number of memes referring to Mister Ed sparked by this brutal takedown from Rob Reiner.
The only true stable genius has to be Mr. Ed., who talks in more complex sentences than the current occupier of the Whitehouse.
— Rob Reiner (@robreiner) January 6, 2018
However, former Bush 43 ethics counsel and prominent Never-Trumper Richard Painter believes this is not a laughing matter. He told CNN’s Christi Paul and Victor Blackwell that this tweetstorm should be grounds to remove him from office–and quickly. Watch here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsDWwFgT-xQ
Painter contended that if a CEO fired off such tweets, “the board of directors would have him removed from office by noon.” He then slammed his fellow Republicans for tolerating this kind of “erratic behavior” from a man who is “in control of nuclear weapons.” He was no less unsparing on Twitter.
This reads like a statement by an immature candidate for second grade class president. Embarrassing. https://t.co/w3mJSMKYay
— Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) January 6, 2018
“I am a very stable genius” is the way people talk on the way to the funny farm, not the Situation Room. Or so it was a year ago. https://t.co/hoh8arOrNU
— Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) January 6, 2018
Trump didn’t do anything to help his cause during a press conference later that morning at Camp David. Watch a clip here.
When asked about reports that he tried to press Attorney General Jeff Sessions into not recusing himself from the Russia investigation, Trump replied:
“Everything that I do is 100 percent proper. The story, by the way, in the Times, was way off, or at least off. But everything that I’ve done is 100% proper. That is what I do, is I do things proper.”
The obvious grammatical slip-up resulted in a new round of Twitter pillorying.
“That’s what I do is I do things proper.” Donald J. Trump – president of the United States (and very stable genius)
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) January 6, 2018
"That's what I do. I do things proper." So says our grammarian-in-chief. #VeryStableGenius
— Jane Urban (@AudacityJane) January 6, 2018
@realDonaldTrump To go from saying you are a brilliant, straight “A” student who went to the best schools in the country to saying “That’s what I do, I do things PROPER” (should be “properly” per basic grammar rules) is the perfect example of your hypocrisy. #NotMyPresident
— Mina Azarnoush (@minaazarnoush) January 6, 2018
https://twitter.com/bakernet7/status/949690922178174982
"I do things proper." Um, not even grammar, Fuhrer @realDonaldTrump #hopeless #ImpeachTrump #somanylies
— UnblocktheClock (@cszmom) January 6, 2018
This press conference isn’t providing evidence that Trump is a #stablegenius.
— WindUpBird (@MickieMo) January 6, 2018
"That’s what I do is I do things proper." That's a genius talking there. https://t.co/jTnHXGiHDi
— ???? ??????? ?? (@Doug_Bratman) January 6, 2018
I’m a real president, I am, and I do things proper, gov’ner, always proper an’ on the up an up, ‘cause I’m a stable genius, I am. https://t.co/GYM6nHAPMs
— Libtard Jesus, bone saw bible butcher (@LibtardJesus1) January 6, 2018
Yep, we should all feel safe with this guy in the White House.
There was already ample reason to call for the 25th Amendment. After all, it has been clear beyond any doubt that Trump lacks the impulse control and temperament to be president. But it’s hard not to agree with Painter–after this display from Trump, it’s long past time to get him out of here.
(featured image: photo art courtesy Ben Park, Vanity Fair)
