Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is certainly in an interesting spot after America’s two major political parties had their conventions and not much has changed with polling trends. But one sign of support the president has found on the water reportedly turned to disaster on Saturday that lit up social media in a big way.
Dozens of Trump-themed boat parades have popped up across the United States in recent weeks, with Trump amplifying images of them to bolster his support among a very specific crowd of recreational vehicle enthusiasts. Some of these rallies have drawn crowds of counter-protesters, or at least people there to document the spectacle and, like the image above from New York in July, to show their disapproval of the events and the political beliefs of those particupating.
But for some on Saturday watching from the shores, they got quite a sight when a Trump boat parades ended in reports of boats outright sinking. Reports spread on Saturday that multiple boats sank during a Trump boat rally in Texas on Saturday. A local sherif department tweeted that it, indeed, had to respond to several calls about boats from the Trump parade that had sunk.
TCSO responded to multiple calls involving boats in distress during the Trump parade on Lake Travis. Several boats did sink.
— Travis County Sheriff's Office (@TravisCoSheriff) September 5, 2020
The New York Times reported that at least four boats at the event had sunk, though there were no reported injuries. It also had some details about what was supposed to happen at the event, which made many wonder exactly how this led to several boats sinking.
Owners of boats of “all shapes and sizes” were encouraged to participate and to decorate them with “as many Trump flags as she can handle,” the event’s Facebook page said.
Boaters were set to travel around the lake, which is about 15 miles northwest of Austin, at 10 miles per hour, according to the event’s page.
But one image in particular of a Trump flag-flying vessel in some rough waters immediately went viral on Saturday, as did the hashtag #Dumbkirk, a reference to the Oscar-nominated war movie Dunkirk.
Rough waters on Lake Travis as hundreds of boats in Trump boat parade. Several swaamped. #Statesman @bobphoto pic.twitter.com/DPpKKhgljF
— bobphoto (@bobphoto) September 5, 2020
There were some incredible reactions to that single image alone.
“Ayyyyyyyyy mama rock me” pic.twitter.com/m16RwVEgzF
— BUM CHILLUPS AKA SPENCER HALL (@edsbs) September 5, 2020
That wasn’t the only photo of a Trump boat taking on water that circulated online, though.
Swamped boat near Emerald Point as hundreds of boats parade for President Donald Trump, at least three craft swamped with no injuries reported #statesman @bobphoto pic.twitter.com/eY3yyAXvyp
— bobphoto (@bobphoto) September 5, 2020
It was a good chance to get off some jokes about antifa and other conspiracies about what caused the boats to sink.
Okay, who gave Antifa the nuclear submarines? Fess up https://t.co/LJkhQM0n0v
— David Weigel (@daveweigel) September 5, 2020
Or just make fun of people using the #Dumbkirk hashtag.
Don't worry – Our President is responding quickly! #Dumbkirk pic.twitter.com/rstDD8BqBn
— Eric Wagner (@ProfessorE59) September 5, 2020
Someone even added in the audio from Titanic, which was an inspired move to say the least.
https://twitter.com/BfloDude/status/1302374066238742528
It wasn’t a very good day for the boaters, but it sure was a lot of fun for people online.