‘Plainly Demented’: Internet Responds as Trump Unleashes Crazed Tweetstorm and Calls on Schiff to Resign

The tide seems to have turned. Social media users appear to have shifted from being outraged and angered with President Donald Trump to being concerned and disgusted with him now that the House of Representatives appears to be headed for a certain and successful vote to impeach him.

Friday morning President Trump unleashed a series of tweets that were even more disturbing than usual, for several reasons.

At 7:02 AM, Trump penned a tweet attacking House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, once again calling him “Liddle’ Adam Schiff.” Trump went berserk, screaming that CNN “purposely took the hyphen out and said I spelled the word little wrong.”

It is an apostrophe, not a hyphen, but the entire tweet is, as one journalist wrote, “plainly demented.”

This is plainly demented. https://t.co/0j42D7zLj2

— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) September 27, 2019

Trump then went after a New York Times journalist, while insisting beyond credulity that his call with the president of Ukraine was “very legal and very good.” Based on the “transcript,” or call synopsis Trump’s White House released, he clearly engaged in attempted extortion and possible campaign finance fraud, which are not “very legal and very good.”

…..nice call with with the new President of Ukraine, it could not have been better or more honorable, and the Fake News Media and Democrats, working as a team, have fraudulently made it look bad. It wasn’t bad, it was very legal and very good. A continuing Witch Hunt!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 27, 2019

Trump then turned his anger back to Chairman Schiff. The President falsely claimed during his opening remarks “Rep. Adam Schiff fraudulently read to Congress, with millions of people watching, a version of my conversation with the President of Ukraine that doesn’t exist.”

Schiff was clearly not reading the “transcript” word for word. He clearly was reciting a parody of that call, to show the American people that what Trump was engaged in was Mafia like behavior.

In fact, before the hearing Schiff held a press conference saying “what those notes reflect is a classic Mafia-like shakedown of a foreign leader.”

“Like any Mafia boss,” Schiff continued, “the president didn’t need to say, ‘that’s a nice country you have, it would be a shame if something happened to it,’ because that was clear from the conversation.”

Trump went berserk, and concluded his tweets saying, “I am calling for him to immediately resign from Congress based on this fraud!”

…sound horrible, and me sound guilty. HE WAS DESPERATE AND HE GOT CAUGHT. Adam Schiff therefore lied to Congress and attempted to defraud the American Public. He has been doing this for two years. I am calling for him to immediately resign from Congress based on this fraud!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 27, 2019

Here’s how some on social media are responding:

What are you, a Lil’ Abner wannabe?

— Alexander Chee (@alexanderchee) September 27, 2019

1. Not a hyphen
2. It’s an apostrophe & has no business at the end of fake word “liddle” unless you meant it to be possessive. Liddle doesn’t own Schiff.
3. Trump’s an idiot-he can’t tell the difference between an apostrophe & a hyphen. Used them both in that sentence for you.

— sherean (@sherean) September 27, 2019

It’s just a matter of time until Trump goes full anti-Semitic on Adam Schiff. I can assure it’s coming. And worst part is that many (not all) in his base would cheer such a vile attack.

— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) September 27, 2019

Someday, people are going to wonder what the last things Donald Trump did were in the days before he was impeached and they’re going to find this tweet complaining about a hyphen that is actually an apostrophe.

— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) September 27, 2019

Even the dictionary got involved:

For those looking up punctuation early on a Friday morning:

A hyphen is a mark – used to divide or to compound words.
An apostrophe is a mark ‘ used to indicate the omission of letters or figures.

— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) September 27, 2019