Behold the wonder that is @TrumpDraws: a Twitter account dedicated entirely to animated GIFs of Trump signing executive orders. The description reads, “i’m the president and i like to draw”. Created just four days ago, @TrumpDraws has 319,000 followers. It began with “house”
house pic.twitter.com/AHAjqMazJ4
— Trump Draws (@TrumpDraws) January 31, 2017
and moved on to “kat”, “horse” and “turkey” (evidently made with one of the president’s own, small hands)
turkey pic.twitter.com/t6OJ15Fsan
— Trump Draws (@TrumpDraws) January 31, 2017
before arriving at Trump’s favorite subject:
— Trump Draws (@TrumpDraws) January 31, 2017
These alternative executive orders may seem silly and absurd at first, but cumulatively they do speak truth to power, critiquing the child-like capriciousness of President Trump’s so-far incoherent attempts to govern via poorly executed fiat.
my plane pic.twitter.com/o7jDiam0vP
— Trump Draws (@TrumpDraws) February 3, 2017
What sorts of orders are these? Is it enough for the powerful to point and speak?
dinosar pic.twitter.com/R629EU9WDh
— Trump Draws (@TrumpDraws) February 1, 2017
Is it fair to children to compare their crude yet often brilliant, uninhibited creations with the rambling, self-centered utterances of a sociopathic septuagenarian?
pretty pic.twitter.com/h2pc3SpKCV
— Trump Draws (@TrumpDraws) February 2, 2017
Like all effective poetry, these miniature videopoems lead not to any definitive solution but to a radical reappraisal of the quotidian, stripped of all deadening cliches. In an increasingly perilous political environment they offer levity, yes, but more importantly they serve the salutary goal, more often honored in the breach, of refusing to normalize what is in fact both deeply aberrant and abhorrent.