You’ve probably already seen this and tweeted about it, making incredible jokes like how you’d give Trump five million dollars if he would just cut his hair hahaha. It’s already been on the front page of all the news sites, it’s been a trending topic all day and even on TV so I don’t have to tell you most of the feedback has been incredibly negative. Fox News have shied away, burying the story well away from the front page on their Fox Nation section. They feature a bare bones article with a link to the video and press release without any endorsement or fired up headline. Even the comment section on that site is not biting Trump’s bait. The most desperate point out that Obama’s non-response will prove that his does infact lack transparency and hates charity to boot, but they are few and far between.
But if we all know that Donald Trump is a joke not worth listening to, why do we keep listening? Why did we wait with bated breath while Trump teased his “bombshell” announcement. Why do we feed the trolls and pay attention when Ann Coulter and Sarah Palin make inflammatory statements? Same goes Sue-Ann Levy and Ezra Levant‘s racist remarks? Because being right gets retweets.
It is precisely because these comments are stupid, shallow and clearly wrong that makes them perfect fodder for rage-tweets, snarky jokes and heart felt blog posts from those who have been wronged. And having the ragiest tweet or the snarkiest joke will send your shit viral. It’s no accident that Romney tormentor-in-chief Rob Delaney has the buzziest feed these days.
It just so happens that I watched The Fifth Element on Netflix last night and I can’t help but be reminded of the scene where Gary Oldman’s character (Zorg!) pushes the glass off the counter to create a little chaos which spurs on the clean-up effort by an army of Roombas. It’s an analogy for war as an economic stimulant. It translates pretty well to the Internet echo chamber: Without the crazies, how would we know who’s sane? For better or worse, page views do not discriminate. So, think of Trump’s ridiculous offer, and others like it, as the fuel that feeds the meme machine.
But as a human being, he is complete garbage.
Couldn’t have said it better than Jonathan Goldsbie who tweeted, “Donald Trump makes me proud of Conrad Black.”
____
Michael Kolberg is The Sprawl Editor at Toronto Standard. Follow him on Twitter for jokes @mikeykolberg
For more, follow us on Twitter at @torontostandard and subscribe to our Newsletter.
