President Donald Trump’s latest gaffe happened last week during a meeting for the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, when he referred to Apple CEO Tim Cook as “Tim Apple.” “I used to say, Tim, you gotta start doing it over here and you really have, you’ve really put a big investment in the country,” Trump told Cook, in regards to bringing manufacturing operations back to the United States. “We really appreciate it very much, Tim Apple.”
Trump was subsequently ridiculed in the media and online as result of the gaffe — but now, nearly one week later — he’s offered an explanation on Twitter as to what was going on in that big orange head of his.
“At a recent round table meeting of business executives, & long after formally introducing Tim Cook of Apple, I quickly referred to Tim + Apple as Tim/Apple as an easy way to save time & words,” Trump tweeted. “The Fake News was disparagingly all over this, & it became yet another bad Trump story!”
At a recent round table meeting of business executives, & long after formally introducing Tim Cook of Apple, I quickly referred to Tim + Apple as Tim/Apple as an easy way to save time & words. The Fake News was disparagingly all over this, & it became yet another bad Trump story!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 11, 2019
Uh … okay, then?
Aside from not being such a great explanation, Trump’s excuse literally mirrors a cold open from a season eight episode of The Office. In “The Incentive,” the doofus character of Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner) known for his lack of communication skills, decides to “save time” by abbreviating his words and sentences, to the bewilderment of his coworkers.
Eventually Jim, Pam, and Andy intervene and convince Kevin to talk normally again. In the last few seconds of the clip however, Kevin literally says to the camera: “When me president, they see. They see…”
The comparison was quickly pointed out by several people on Twitter:
lmao hahahaha pic.twitter.com/9W9DjYNxbo
— Jules Suzdaltsev (@jules_su) March 11, 2019
— Ryan (@RYEandALL) March 11, 2019
— Scambos (@Scambos) March 11, 2019
Donald Trump is the guy who watches The Office and doesn’t realize Kevin Malone is the dumb one. pic.twitter.com/t625XGizYW
— Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) March 11, 2019
The @POTUS is just like Kevin from @theofficenbc 👍🏻😊 pic.twitter.com/ISXAWxQKUC
— Richard Roeper (@RichardERoeper) March 11, 2019
Likewise, others piled on to ridicule Trump’s bad attempt at damage control, which only reignited what everyone had basically already forgotten about.
incredible. just breathtaking. https://t.co/vZab8fsYF8
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) March 11, 2019
So it seems the Tim Apple story really got under Trump's skin.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 11, 2019
https://twitter.com/pattymo/status/1105114092619083776
Trump yesterday: I called him Tim Cook of Apple you just didn’t hear me.
Trump today: I called him Tim Apple to save time.
Trump tomorrow: THERE IS NO TIM COOK! IPHONES ARE A HOAX CREATED BY THE LYING MEDIA! THIS IS NOTHING BUT AN APPLE WATCH HUNT!
— The Volatile Mermaid (@OhNoSheTwitnt) March 11, 2019
Absolute king of comedy shit https://t.co/ZK7OMTIRmI
— luke (@lukeoneil47) March 11, 2019
Makes sense, Donald President. https://t.co/qQYicBO68e
— John Fritze (@jfritze) March 11, 2019
Ummm… you were not leading a sentence with a subject noun like "Tim/Apple is making great strides." You were referring directly to him as Tim Apple – as a person, not a company. No high IQ coupling of words. No genius shortcutting. Astounded you feel the need to lie about this. https://t.co/CIcwZNNuF8
— Morgan J. Freeman (@mjfree) March 11, 2019
If you need me, I'll be saying "Tim Apple" out loud over and over until words no longer contain meaning
— Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) March 11, 2019
“As an easy way to save time and words” says the guy that logorrheaed for 2 hours at CPAC. https://t.co/6riQyIe09n
— Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) March 11, 2019
One person even compared the explanation to Michael Scott — so close!
https://twitter.com/alissamarie/status/1105084971100852224
Entertaining as it can be, it would honestly be nice to go just one day without the president reminding everyone of a fictional character.