The eldest presidential son is being thoroughly mocked online after attempting to mock a fellow/rival son of privilege for the alleged faux pas of coasting on the family name.
Late Tuesday morning, Donald Trump Jr. made the ill-advised decision to tweet the following criticism of Hunter Biden:
Dumpster fire at Biden HQ! “It is impossible for me to be on any of the boards I just mentioned without saying that I’m the son of the vice president of the US. I don’t think that there’s a lot of things that would have happen in my life that if my name wasn’t Biden” Hunter Biden
The younger Biden, of course, was referring to the fact that he was controversially hired by several foreign boards due to the gravitas associated with the family name of a former U.S. vice president.
The younger Trump, of course, is perhaps the worst person in the world to serve as a vessel for critiquing nepotistic, unearned wealth. And the internet quickly surmised as much.
“Imagine being *this* lacking in self-awareness,” tweeted historian Kevin M. Kruse.
National security attorney Bradley P. Moss made an obvious but astute observation: “This poor man is apparently under the impression his last name bears no relation to his career.”
Humorist Andy Levy offered some empathy-adjacent sarcasm.
“[P]eople are dunking on jr for this but honestly i bet it’s incredibly peaceful and zen-like to have zero self-awareness,” he tweeted.
Progressive activist Judd Legum went for a snarky rejoinder:
Donald Trump Jr.’s resume:
1. Ski bum
2. Executive Vice President for the Trump Organization, his father’s company
3. Judge on the Apprentice, his father’s TV show
4. Anti-nepotism activist https://t.co/6Zlo1Pd2tq
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) October 15, 2019
And the posterizing kept up apace:
To be clear, this tweet is from Donald Trump Jr. https://t.co/TPE6czwiJI
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) October 15, 2019
Quite a tweet from… Donald Trump Jr. https://t.co/6PFnUkvNrD
— Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) October 15, 2019
Without putting too fine a point on it: preemptive criticism from Monday night–just after the Biden interview initially ran–more or less presaged Donald Trump Jr.’s owned-on-Twitter onslaught here.
Investigative journalist Julia Davis shared an illustrative article by Jay Willis in GQ:
How Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric Trump Have Profited Off Their Dad’s Presidency:
No one knows a “clear conflict of interest” when they see it better than the president’s children.https://t.co/H6ziRzkP6t— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) October 15, 2019
And that same sentiment was shared by one of the nation’s most revered anti-corruption organizations.
In a tweet sharing the above-mentioned article, the Ralph Nader-founded group noted: “Never forget that Ivanka, Eric and Don Jr. profit off their father’s presidency every. single. day.”
[image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]
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