Every now and then, some aspect of the Trump era is so ridiculous that you have to stop and wonder, “How did we get here? How is this possible?”
One such moment occurred over the weekend when the president successfully sipped some water and thousands of fans responded as though he’d just dropped a devastating, climactic diss in a rap battle.
The degenerate left claimed President Trump had health issues after drinking water with 2 hands.
Today he drank with one and tossed the glass to the side! 🤣
GREATEST. PRESIDENT. EVER. pic.twitter.com/0EAGff1Bhb
— DeAnna Lorraine 🇺🇸 (@DeAnna4Congress) June 21, 2020
This moment from Trump’s disastrous Tulsa rally goes far beyond the boundaries of parody even without any context, but here is a brief play-by-play of how it came to pass.
During the previous weekend, Trump gave a typically shambolic commencement address at West Point that raised some questions about the president’s health. He seemed to have difficulty drinking from a glass of water, descending a treacherously handle-free ramp, and also just talking at a normal pace.
Compare and contrast: Trump speaking during his June 2015 campaign launch speech vs. Trump speaking at West Point today, almost exactly five years later pic.twitter.com/qDFmkNBVmj
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 13, 2020
Although we are currently in the middle of a historic racial reckoning and COVID-19 cases are spiking in several states, Trump and his surrogates spent a significant amount of the past week defending the ramp walk and two-hand sip. The ongoing defense of his West Point speech crescendoed during the Tulsa rally, during which he devoted an entire eighth of his nearly two-hour speech to the topic, including over 14 minutes on the ramp alone.
So that’s why thousands of unmasked citizens in an indoor space during a pandemic cheered for the world’s most powerful man to conquer a glass of water with one hand. Since the moment has received so much attention online, with the above video of it alone netting 6.4 million views, it has inspired a meme.
People online have begun to take the #OneHandWaterChallenge to prove they’re equally capable of the president’s extraordinary beverage achievements.
Famous folks like Henry Winkler and Congressman Ted Lieu are taking the challenge.
One hand pic.twitter.com/nrCOW27Yuk
— Henry Winkler (@hwinkler4real) June 22, 2020
Today I released my first campaign ad. It was produced by my kids. Let me know if you like it.https://t.co/OeXvghcnGv pic.twitter.com/CuFKMzdrZB
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) June 21, 2020
So are some random Twitter users.
You laugh but it’s more difflecult than it seems #onehandwaterchallenge #OneHandDrinking @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/RhnLMKxJ6i
— Callum 🦆🇬🇧🇯🇵🇪🇺🧬 (@CallumJCParr) June 22, 2020
#onehandwaterchallenge #TrumpDictatorship #WorstPresidentInHistory pic.twitter.com/ow4aOnVn9G
— SB ☮️🌊💙💎🌎🗽 (@sbroggie) June 22, 2020
And some folks on TikTok are also getting into the action.
Although young people are usually right at the center of viral challenges, nobody under the age of 35 seems to be involved in this one thus far. But the kids have already contributed plenty to the discourse around Trump’s Tulsa rally.
Are you physically able to drink a glass of water with one hand? Tweet the video proof at @FastCompany.
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