Video: @brikeilarcnn loses it when @benshapiro tells her on @CNN that the Trump campaign is a “turd tornado” #lolz pic.twitter.com/O3bHqveSl3
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 17, 2016
The 2016 presidential election has cursed gifted Americans with a treasure trove of gaffes, elbows to the face, and other brilliant displays of political inanity. Almost all of these incidents have taken place in front of video cameras or audio recording equipment that was, thankfully, turned on at the time. And most, though not all, of them have had something to do with Donald Trump.
Like television’s latest lexical coinage, “turd tornado,” which former Breitbart editor-at-large Ben Shapiro used to describe Trump during an interview with CNN’s Brianna Keilar. They were discussing the Republican nominee’s decision to hire Shapiro’s former boss, Breitbart head Stephen Bannon, when the conservative commentator dropped his surprise stink bomb on Keilar. As one Twitter user noted, much of the credit was due to the CNN host for asking the necessary followup question:
SHAPIRO: As you probably know, I think Donald Trump is a “turd tornado.”
…
KEILAR: A what tornado?
SHAPIRO: A “turd tornado.”
KEILAR: What is that?
SHAPIRO: Well, it’s like a Sharknado, except with poop.
This was an actual exchange that happened on CNN. For a few all-too brief seconds, one of the country’s most-watched cable news networks was wholly concerned with defining a “turd tornado.” Turns out, it’s nothing more than Shapiro’s latest strategy for criticizing the Republican nominee — by referencing a goofy television franchise rife with flying sharks, celebrity cameos and Tara Reid jokes.
Yet Shapiro, who resigned from Breitbart when the company decided to stand with Trump following reporter Michelle Fields’ allegations against Corey Lewandowski, earned himself a great deal of Twitter praise with his comment.
https://twitter.com/jmsummers/status/765959272664559616
.@benshapiro just used the term “turd tornado” on CNN with @brikeilarcnn and defined it as a “shark tornado, but with poop."
— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) August 17, 2016
—@benshapiro calls Trump campaign a “turd tornado”
CNN host: “A what tornado?”
Shapiro: “a turd tornado. Like a shark tornado with poop"
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) August 17, 2016
https://twitter.com/owillis/status/765960506142228480
https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/765965103300747264
Damn, @benshapiro, I'm going to have to up my game. "Loud-mouthed dick" doesn't stand up to "turd-tornado."
— Liz Mair (@LizMair) August 17, 2016
https://twitter.com/TheFix/status/765967732215087104
https://twitter.com/HawkinsUSA/status/765974475464708096
Me waiting for "turd tornado" to trend. 🙏🏼 @benshapiro pic.twitter.com/XwEudfYF4l
— CCP IS ASSHOE (@CCPISASSH0E) August 17, 2016
Of course, it was impossible for anyone not to poke a little fun back at Shapiro, a Harvard Law School graduate who dropped a lexical deuce on live television.
https://twitter.com/BadgerPundit/status/765964453351419904
Check out the full exchange below: