WASHINGTON: US President-elect Donald Trump got plenty of attention — but not the kind he was looking for — after a tweet on Saturday calling out China for its seizure of an unmanned US naval probe.
“China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters — rips it out of water and takes it to China in unpresidented (sic) act,” the real estate magnate wrote on his favorite platform.
“Unpresidented” quickly became a top trending topic on Twitter in the United States, as online wags savaged the incoming president for the unfortunate misspelling.
“TrumpSpellCheck — Unpresidentedly effective,” tweeted “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling.
“Dear world, most Americans really wish we could be #unpresidented,” another user wrote.
Even dictionary Merriam-Webster weighed in.
“The #WordOfTheDay is… not ‘unpresidented’. We don’t enter that word. That’s a new one,” it tweeted.
Unpresident yourself immediately https://t.co/CBEGi59dN3
— Louis Doré (@LouisAlexDore) December 17, 2016
Trump deleted his tweet after about an hour, replacing it with one correctly using the word “unprecedented.”
While many mocked the deeply divisive political novice, famous for his verbal tics and gaffes, supporters jumped to his defense and said critics were piling on about a typo while ignoring the bigger problem.
Can we ‘unpresident’ you? https://t.co/2IZnHOJgnV
— Brittany Packnett (@MsPackyetti) December 17, 2016
Hours after his first tweet, Trump returned to his preferred forum of Twitter to write: “We should tell China that we don’t want the drone they stole back.- let them keep it!”
Trump was referring to China’s seizure on Thursday of an unmanned US naval probe in international waters of the South China Sea, a serious provocation amid rising tensions between the two major powers.
Some in the Democratic Party are hoping the Electoral College will unpresident Donald Trump on Monday.
— Blake Hounshell (@blakehounshell) December 17, 2016
I love the idea of you being unpresidented. https://t.co/vWftxGU1A4
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) December 17, 2016
Well, this is a Freudian slip if ever there was one. And yes, we all hope one day soon Trump also will be unpresidented. https://t.co/CzcXtG7PxH
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) December 17, 2016
All I want for Christmas is Trump to be #unpresidented
— Holly Besinger (@mrstheclassical) December 17, 2016
Good morning! The #WordOfTheDay is…not ‘unpresidented’. We don’t enter that word. That’s a new one. https://t.co/BJ45AtMNu4
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) December 17, 2016
Hour after digital warriors mocked the US-president elect for embarrassing typo, Trump finally realized he had stirred an unwarranted debate. He removed the first tweet and posted it again with a correct spelling.
China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters – rips it out of water and takes it to China in unprecedented act.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 17, 2016