By now, we know that a Like on social media speaks louder than words.
It turns out that comma placement and a Like, in combination, can be quite a slap in the face.
On Sunday night, President Trump tweeted about first daughter Ivanka’s upcoming appearance on Fox News’s morning show: “My daughter, Ivanka, will be on @foxandfriends tomorrow morning. Enjoy!”
My daughter, Ivanka, will be on @foxandfriends tomorrow morning. Enjoy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 12, 2017
Grammarians noted that by bookending Ivanka’s name with commas, the president indicated that she is his only daughter.
The complication there is that she isn’t. Trump has one younger daughter, Tiffany (see what we’re doing here punctuation-wise), from his second marriage, which was to Marla Maples.
His wife Marla Maples. (Again, see what we’re doing here.)
The awkward tweet was noted by other Twitter users.
this comma placement is fucking brutal for tiff https://t.co/JT4of0HAQC
— Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) June 12, 2017
How a comma killed Tiffany Trump: https://t.co/atZ8rKLDH7 pic.twitter.com/Q9qr58TD4D
— Jonathan Rick (@jrick) January 25, 2017
This has happened before.
At 9:00 P.M. @CNN, of all places, is doing a Special Report on my daughter, Ivanka. Considering it is CNN, can’t imagine it will be great!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2017
And it was noted before.
Editor Me: that comma after “daughter” is sad for Tiffany. https://t.co/lnDXZ6Ph8e
— Radhika Jones (@radhikajones) January 17, 2017
Aside from everything else, I expect that Tiffany is really digging that comma after ‘daughter.’ https://t.co/kb8tmzFiXg
— Jon Danziger (@jondanziger) January 17, 2017
Compounding the suspicion that this might be the most intentional “accident” since Melania’s inauguration speech, White House national security aide Sebastian Gorka Liked the tweet within 10 minutes of its posting. He apparently un-Liked it at some point, as there’s no record of it on his Twitter account as of today.
This isn’t the first time that the Trump universe has been rocked by a Like. In May, first lady Melania Trump apparently Liked a tweet mocking her marriage. It was only her second Like in seven years.
After that attracted worldwide media attention, the Like was quickly disappeared, like a digital mob snitch, and Melania said she was “unaware” of the whole thing.
