This Thanksgiving holiday turned out to be a weird one for many reasons. Not only did the pandemic make “gathering” a very bad idea for Americans, but the soon-to-no-longer-be-president threw a Twitter tantrum about “National Security” possibly being threatened by Twitter’s “this claim about election fraud is disputed”-style warnings. And maybe he was complaining about certain unflattering trends. It’s a long story (as with all things this year), but this happened after he addressed reporters from behind a tiny desk, which led to the rise of the #DiaperDon and #TrumpTantrum hashtags. Is this reality? Of course it is, but this whole situation needs some parsing out.
No official statements have surfaced to explain why Trump (or someone on his team) decided that he should address the press from behind a child-sized piece of furniture, but it happened. This is where he stated, in response to questions about whether he’d leave the White House peacefully in January 2021, “Certainly I will, and you know that.” He still has not conceded but told reporters that he’d leave office if the Electoral College did their thing and confirmed Joe Biden’s victory. Still, Trump (baselessly) added, “If they do, they’ve made a mistake… this election was a fraud.”
Oh, and here’s that tiny desk in action.
Omg. The White House shared the video of Trump and his tiny desk. Somebody there really hates him. https://t.co/Fjwf5KZFUD
— Herman Yung (@hermanyung) November 27, 2020
From behind this miniature piece of furniture, Trump railed at a reporter, “I’m the president of the United States. Don’t ever talk to the president that way!” (SNL will have so much fun with this.) The #DiaperDon and #TrumpTantrum hashtags were born.
https://twitter.com/LynnSharig8/status/1332342298387034118
I still can’t quite believe this happened today.
Whoever suggested that desk … thank you.#tinydesk #TinyDeskDonald https://t.co/9sQ6Ko1bMA pic.twitter.com/xKuU0DVjUD— Noah Maher (@noahsparc) November 27, 2020
I found the perfect gift for #DiaperDonJr pic.twitter.com/Uz2lbEUohK
— Dooboofay (@ALPacaUrfudge) November 27, 2020
https://twitter.com/diaperdondaily/status/1332310731295920133
https://twitter.com/krs10a/status/1332336902129664001
Trump, of course, tweeted all day and night, and he also did a lot of retweeting, so there’s no telling whether he was upset about these hashtags, but who knows? He first complained about how how wished a Happy Thanksgiving to the armed forces, yet the “Fake News Media” allegedly muddled his “real message,” which is that “the 2020 Election was RIGGED, and that I WON!”
I gave a long news conference today after wishing the military a Happy Thanksgiving, & realized once again that the Fake News Media coordinates so that the real message of such a conference never gets out. Primary point made was that the 2020 Election was RIGGED, and that I WON!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2020
The Twitter tantrum continued. Trump complained, “Twitter is sending out totally false ‘Trends’ that have absolutely nothing to do with what is really trending in the world. They make it up, and only negative ‘stuff.'”
Twitter is sending out totally false “Trends” that have absolutely nothing to do with what is really trending in the world. They make it up, and only negative “stuff”. Same thing will happen to Twitter as is happening to @FoxNews daytime. Also, big Conservative discrimination!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2020
Trump appeared to argue that “National Security” was somehow under siege:
For purposes of National Security, Section 230 must be immediately terminated!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2020
As The Hill notes, Trump and the GOP wish to repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which they believe “allows social media companies to discriminate against conservative content on their websites, although such content is often amplified.” Whether Trump is upset that his tweets are being marked with warnings, or he doesn’t like unflattering hashtags, who knows? Probably both.