We’re Rapidly Approaching the Trump/@Dril Singularity
President Trump had ISIS on the brain Friday morning, tweeting that the terrorist organization “uses the Internet better than almost anyone.” He made sure to clarify he did not mean to praise ISIS. Though the group is trying “to show a glimmer of vicious hope” (?), the president wrote, they are actually “losers and barely breathing.”
….There is nothing to admire about them, they will always try to show a glimmer of vicious hope, but they are losers and barely breathing. Think about that before you destroy your lives and the lives of your family!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 22, 2019
As many have pointed out, the tweets bears a striking resemblance to a classic 2017 post from @dril, a Twitter account that Trump’s has long mirrored.
issuing correction on a previous post of mine, regarding the terror group ISIL. you do not, under any circumstances, "gotta hand it to them"
— wint (@dril) February 15, 2017
Many have attempted to “explain” @dril, but basically the account’s tweets are those of an Extremely Online shithead. Characteristically filled with grammatical errors, his posts are couched in so many layers of irony and oblique, self-referential bits that their appeal will be lost on anyone whose brain hasn’t been broken by the Internet. Regardless, @dril is considered to be a kind of Weird Twitter Svengali by his 1.3 million followers, and his tweets provide a strange meta-commentary on the world of detestable souls who live to post online. Or something.
Last week, Trump grappled with the fallout from the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 by complaining that airline technology is advancing too quickly and that he doesn’t want Albert Einstein to be his pilot.
Airplanes are becoming far too complex to fly. Pilots are no longer needed, but rather computer scientists from MIT. I see it all the time in many products. Always seeking to go one unnecessary step further, when often old and simpler is far better. Split second decisions are….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 12, 2019
….needed, and the complexity creates danger. All of this for great cost yet very little gain. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want Albert Einstein to be my pilot. I want great flying professionals that are allowed to easily and quickly take control of a plane!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 12, 2019
Again, there was a corresponding @dril tweet.
let's talk about planes now. the pilots are flying them up too damn high. it's dangerous. I don't like it. got to make them lower
— wint (@dril) August 18, 2014
What does this all mean? Probably not much, although the similarities do highlight how Trump is exhibiting behavior characteristic of angry, semi-literate Internet users who feel like the world owes them something. It could also be taken an amusing indication that the president isn’t quite “normal” mentally, a point George Conway, husband to Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, has recently been belaboring on Twitter.
Reupping this. Everyone should read. https://t.co/hV5ZF26fpO
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) March 22, 2019
For more examples of the similarities between the president of the United States and a Twitter user who is intentionally trying to make himself appear as moronic as possible, New York magazine and the Daily Dot have published handy compendiums.