'He is doing a bit': Rumors swirl around Trump's 'alpha male' troll ambassador
President Donald Trump tapped a MAGA provocateur as his ambassador to Malaysia, apparently laying to rest suspicions that his "alpha male" persona is a parody, but many remain unconvinced.
The president nominated Australia-born conservative activist Nick Adams to represent the U.S. in the south Asian nation after gaining an online reputation for culture war stunts and incendiary social media posts, such as one where he referred to pop superstar Taylor Swift as a "woke jezebel" or another where he laid out a credo that many felt veered into self-parody.
“I go to Hooters," he posted. "I eat rare steaks. I lift extremely heavy weights. I read the Bible every night. I am pursued by copious amounts of women. I am wildly successful. I have the physique of a Greek God. I have an IQ over 180. I am extremely charismatic. They hate this.”
If confirmed by the Senate, the 40-year-old Adams would replace the Joe Biden-nominated diplomat Edgard Kagan after less than 16 months in Kuala Lumpur, but a Malaysia-based diplomat told the he South China Morning Post that Adams would be a poor fit for Muslim-majority nation.
“It’s a surprising pick that favours political loyalists over those who actually fit the post,” that diplomat told the newspaper.
Adams appeared at campaign rallies and on television to defend Trump last year during his re-election campaign, and he called his nomination "the honor of a lifetime" and thanked the president for his consideration.
"In your America, all dreams come true," Adams posted on X. "It will be my honor to represent the United States of America in Malaysia. To the esteemed Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I look forward to a confirmation process that is at the heart of the Constitution that has given me the freedom to pursue the American Dream. Thank you again to our Greatest President Ever!"
Social media users expressed shock about the announcement and its apparent confirmation that Adams was not affecting a persona, although doubts remained.
"This is how I learned Nick Adams is actually real," said sportswriter Jason Kirk.
"Nick Adams is one of the greatest long term bits on Twitter and I will never be convinced otherwise," posted writer Shiv Ramdas.
"I don't think Nick Adams being picked for ambassador to Malaysia is at all inconsistent with 'Nick Adams is a gimmick account,'" agreed public relations specialist Ian Boudreau.
"I think he IS doing a bit," replied screenwriter Pat Casey. "But now he's really gonna be the ambassador! This is the plot of a bad 80s movie."
"Trump nominating Nick Adams to an ambassadorship is like if Biden nominated Horse ebooks," added TV writer Bob Schooley, dipping deep into Twitter lore.
"You may think it’s hugely insulting to name Nick Adams ambassador to Malaysia," said attorney Ken "Popehat" White. "It is, but it’s also completely fair game. Malaysia hired Ben Domenech to lobby America. This is a perfectly appropriate and proportional diplomatic response."
"Trump wants to make Nick Adams (the weird self-proclaimed 'alpha male' guy) ambassador to Malaysia," posted the watchdog account Eyes on the Right. "Adams also appeared on a show hosted by Neo-Nazi Stew Peters."
"It’s easy to laugh at stuff like Nick Adams until you remember they’re actually all-in on Nazism and making every aspect of our lives worse," replied physician Ryan Marino.