President Donald Trump is being mercilessly mocked after he appeared via a taped video message at Thursday’s White House press briefing.
Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders began the briefing by playing pre-recorded footage of Trump boasting about his tax code rewrite onto two screens. But as many media outlets have noted, the president was likely nearby in another room at the same time.
The bizarre situation did not go unnoticed online, with many people likening Trump’s appearance to a movie villain. They also reimagined photos of the briefing in various amusing ways. Here’s a sampling of the humorous responses:
Leaning hard into the 1984 vibe here https://t.co/Ck1IsUG53g
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) January 4, 2018
weird trump video statement during the press briefing pic.twitter.com/k0uEPVt4pw
— Benny Johnson Retire Bitch (@zarzarbinkss) January 4, 2018
It felt like a message from a bond villain.
— Travis Carlson (@cyrilcompteach) January 4, 2018
— Rob Rosenberg (@RobMRosenberg) January 4, 2018
— val-holla! (@ValerieSprague) January 4, 2018
I give it two months before trump does press conferences like pic.twitter.com/3w4kvsTKCT
— ob3 (@ob731) January 4, 2018
welcome to your reckoning, @SHSanders45 pic.twitter.com/alXmMbLLud
— 163 days ago Trump promised 24-hr Hezbollah answer (@MattNegrin) January 4, 2018
Sarah Huckabee Sanders just thanked a video recording of Trump as if he was actually there.
— Ian Walker (@iantothemax) January 4, 2018
— cartogeek (@cartogeek) January 4, 2018
The bizarre situation prompted other folks to ask why Trump didn’t deliver the briefing in person:
What just happened in the WH briefing is disturbing. A desperate, untreated sociopath is dictating to the press directly, but without appearing to take questions. Another piece of our democracy just disappeared and Americans are doing nothing about it. This is the sad truth. pic.twitter.com/49wLguYDNt
— Bandit Aléatoire (@BanditRandom) January 4, 2018
1/5 To the best of my recollection, @realDonaldTrump has held exactly ONE press conference in the last year that wasn't with another head of state or a Cabinet head to share the brunt of questions. ONE. This is not normal and this is not acceptable.
— Jennifer Hayden (@Scout_Finch) January 4, 2018
It used to be that a President would go to the briefing room when he wanted to make a statement. How embarrassing for this WH that the President is too afraid to face questions.
— Ned Price (@nedprice) January 4, 2018
TUESDAY: @PressSec: Trump is "one of the most accessible presidents we've ever had."
— Jesse Lehrich (@JesseLehrich) January 4, 2018
THURSDAY: @POTUS beams a video of himself into the press briefing to avoid questions. pic.twitter.com/PQOaw88aOt
Hold on.
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) January 4, 2018
Donald Trump IS AT THE WHITE HOUSE, but just video conferenced into the White House press briefing because he was so afraid to face the press.
Never seen anything like it.
He's literally 150 feet away from the room.
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