For those of us lucky to be awake Tuesday night, for the semi-frequent late-night Twitter outburst from President Donald Trump, we received the gift of “covfefe.” Yes, Trump’s attempt to type the word “coverage” went somewhat awry, giving the Twitter wags a good chuckle before winking out for a good night’s sleep. You had the funny feeling that there would be a high-level meeting the next morning to “spin” this misspelling as a masterstroke of political letters (and that is apparently what happened), but that would surely be that. Right?
Wrong! Sometime between Trump’s tweet and the next morning, a think piece was penned, positioning “covfefe” as the unified field theorem of Donald Trump. Who wrote it? You know who wrote it. The man who writes the takes that make the whole world groan: New CNN hire Chris Cillizza.
This story is really super important to him!
”And ... they couldn’t!” Orchestra sting, curtain closes, END OF ACT ONE.
Yes, the inability to come up with a “good answer” on a misspelled tweet really is something ― or at least it would be in an administration that isn’t a daily omnishambles. But let’s leave that aside for the time being and instead reflect upon this new “Peak Cillizza” era we seem to be entering and the way we find ourselves wondering, “How did this happen?” with increasing frequency. With the help of the Eat the Press telestrator, we shall meditate upon this question, until we are weeping.
So, then: How did this happen?
Per HuffPost’s Lydia O’Connor: “There’s zero evidence Ivanka Trump will help make the fight against climate change a pillar of her father’s administration, despite what some headlines may have led readers to believe.”
How did this happen?
How did this happen?
(In fairness, sociopaths usually are the biggest winners in Washington.)
How did this happen?
How did this happen?
(See here for more on how Chris Cillizza ― who does not know any actual people ― constantly makes evidence-free assertions about them.)
How did this happen?
How did this happen?
How did this happen?
Hoooooly crap, you guys! How did this happen?
And how ― how on earth! ― did this happen?
Meanwhile:
Keep leaking us the good stuff, Tiffany.
In short: Congratulations to The Washington Post.
This has been: “How did this happen?”
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Jason Linkins edits “Eat the Press” for HuffPost and co-hosts the HuffPost Politics podcast “So, That Happened.” Subscribe here, and listen to the latest episode below.