The Onion did a nice bit of satire all about the new US White House press secretary, Sean Spicer. The very fact that you most probably do indeed already know the name of the White House press secretary is a bit of a flag that highlights just how extraordinary are the times we now live in.
The Onion article nicely sums him up as follows …
.@SeanSpicer's role in the Trump administration will be to provide the American public with robust and clearly articulated misinformation. pic.twitter.com/IlRkZPbDZl
— The Onion (@TheOnion) January 29, 2017
As you read, it all feels very flattering, until you then hit the punchline in the last word … “@SeanSpicer’s role in the Trump administration will be to provide the American public with robust and clearly articulated misinformation.“.
It’s the Onion, so it is of course satire, and damn funny because that is exactly what he has been promoting – “Misinformation”.
The Onion piece lists 5 Spicer “facts”
The Onion link is not for an article, but rather a video that lists “5 things to know about Sean Spicer”.
- provide the American public with robust and clearly articulated misinformation
- formally senior correspondent on NPR’s national desk (Hint: No he was not)
- his speaking style is defensive (Partially true, but when you dish out misinformation you are forced to do that)
- “whether or not Spicer has ever knowingly lied to the press.” “One’s own mental activity is the only unquestionable fact of one’s experience,” (That one goes flaying way of the heads of most Trump voters)
- “does he nail the pocket square or does he nail the pocket square.” – “Snowy white, quarter inch of clearance — you better believe he does.”
What happens next is utterly bizarre
Mr Spicer reads the tweet, and apparently thinking it is high praise, simply retweets it.
This has got to be a spoof, he can’t be that daft, this is photoshopped … right?
OK, hold that thought.
So I checked his timeline on twitter, and yes, here it is (as I write this), the tweet is still up, he really did re-tweet it …
You nailed it. Period! https://t.co/AUmS1C222b
— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) January 29, 2017
What is going on here?
I can grasp that he perhaps was speed reading and missed the “mis” in “misinformation”. However, the tweet is still up, he has not taken it down even after it was all pointed out.
Another thought is that he is attacking satire with satire, and thinks of his retweet as a satire rebuttal to a satire piece.
However, when it comes to twitter, he is simply not that smart.
This is the same guy who has already accidentally tweeted out the password to the official White House twitter account this past week … twice. If you are rolling with the “idiot” hypothesis, then the evidence that backs that up is rapidly piling up.
The 2006 movie “Idiocracy” used to be fiction, but sadly it is fast morphing into a documentary.
Further Reading
- Snopes fact checks it and verifies that he really did tweet it
- The original Onion satire piece