Troll-in-chief Donald Trump wrong-footed the media last night after sending them on a hopeless quest to work out the meaning of “covfefe” – an apparent typo – only to claim it was a hoax.
Yesterday, during his daily Twitter tirade, Trump tweeted out the word that later dominated headlines and social media. “Despite the constant negative press covfefe…” he said in a now-deleted tweet.
The President then left the tweet live for more than six hours, in which time the media went into overdrive mocking him or trying to figure out what it meant.
Then, at around 6am East Coast time, Trump turned the tables on the speculators, claiming it as a riddle he had cunningly thrown out to distract them:
Who can figure out the true meaning of "covfefe" ??? Enjoy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2017
The word “covfefe” sparked wild speculations of what he actually mean – is it coverage? (probably, yes) Is it a secret Russian code? (no)
According to Google News, the previously unknown term spawned around 17,900 articles before Trump pulled the plug. Meanwhile many other topics attracted significantly less media attention:
“Who can figure out the true meaning of ‘covfefe’ ??? Enjoy!” he tweeted.
He managed to upset a few people along the way:
I just no longer find trump trending topics or memes funny. I get sad and angry and depressed. Fuck covfefe, fuck it all, stupid idiot
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 31, 2017
what makes me saddest is that I know I'll never write anything funnier than #covfefe
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) May 31, 2017
Others, meanwhile, offered much more level-headed approach:
BREAKING: Trump accidentally sends tweet half way through typing it including typo, liberals cite as reason for impeachment. #covfefe
— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) May 31, 2017
Trump typed out a word wrong on Twitter. His presidency can literally never recover from this.
— James Delingpole (@JamesDelingpole) May 31, 2017
Love how liberals are condemning President Trump's use of #covfefe more than they've condemned Kathy Griffin all day. 😂
— Josh Hall (@JoshHallGOP) May 31, 2017
