In its “1600 Daily” on Friday, the White House promoted a satirical column mocking the administration’s 2018 budget proposal in an apparent effort to bolster support for the president’s dramatic cuts to funding for the arts and sciences.
The “1600 Daily” is the administration’s daily “summary” of “news, events and updates from the White House,” put out by White House staffers. The memo features sections including “Photo of the Day,” a look at “President Trump’s Schedule,” and a compilation of various news reports complimentary to the president.
On Friday’s “1600 Daily,” the White House included two links, one to a Politico article about Trump “[praising] Irish ‘fight’ at White House ceremony," and another to a Washington Post article hailing the president’s budget proposal for “[making] perfect sense.”
But rather than being a straight-forward Trump column, the budget piece—written by Post opinion writer Alexandra Petri for her “ComPost” column—was a satirical take on the president’s plans. Past “ComPost” articles by Petri include such headlines as, “‘Somebody Else’s Babies’ are a real menace” and, “Great news: President Trump did not bite any bats in half during his address to Congress!”
In the article cited Friday by the White House, subtly entitled, “Trump’s budget makes perfect sense and will fix America, and I will tell you why,” Petri name-calls critics of the president’s budget proposal, referring to them repeatedly as “wimps.”
“This budget will make America a lean, mean fighting machine with bulging, rippling muscles and not an ounce of fat,” Petri writes. “America has been weak and soft for too long.”
“AMERICA WILL BE STRONGER THAN IT HAS EVER BEEN,” Petri declares at the article’s close. “Anyone who survives will be a gun covered in the fur of a rare mammal, capable of fighting disease with a single muscular flex.”
“RAW POWER! HARD RAW POWER GRRRRRR HISSS POW!,” she adds. “It will be great.”
The link comes as counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway on Friday lamented Washington for lacking a sense of humor.
“No one can take a joke either, that is definitely true, humorless Washington,” Conway told Politico.
It remains unclear whether the administration intended to promote an article blatantly critical of the president.
