She Said He Said: Covfefe

The following is the eighth entry in “She Said, He Said,” a new series of articles seeking to compare and contrast the various views, political, social or otherwise, of Millennials in today’s world. Elizabeth Lane is a 2016 Carson-Newman University graduate with a BA in Creative Writing, and has worked at the Jefferson County Post as a journalist and feature writer since shortly before her graduation. Jake Depew is a 2014 Carson-Newman University graduate with a BS in Philosophy. He is the assistant editor and a columnist for the Jefferson County Post, and is the Editor for the Gatlinburg Daily Post.

This article’s question: “What does Covfefe mean? What is your reaction?“

Elizabeth Lane

She said…

This week we are looking back on the infamous tweet sent by President Trump named “covfefe.” What does it mean? Where did that come from? Why would the leader of the free world tweet that? All good questions, and some of which I intend to shed my own light on momentarily, but I think my first question is the real one that we should be looking at. How is it okay that the President of the United States is getting this kind of attention? I mean it’s like he might be a person or something!

We have all misspelled things. I get that. But how is there nobody who double checks what the President sends? Did he not think to read over it one more time before pressing okay? I think he originally meant to say “coverage.” Where covfefe comes from out of that I don’t know. It looks like the original context had something to do with the media, and we all know how Trump feels about the media. There is much speculation as to what covfefe means. The internet has taken its own liberty through the use of memes and the Urban Dictionary in saying what it means. Look at both of these reactions at your own discretion, especially the latter.

So, at this point, we have figured out a couple of things. Trump needs to hire a proof reader, and covfefe may mean “coverage.” That, or Trump is trying to summon some type of monster out of a fictional universe. In all seriousness, though, this is an issue that does not sit all that well with me.

The president is supposed to be the ambassador of the American people. How are we to be taken seriously when our leader is out summoning monsters and not paying anyone to proofread his tweets? He could at least try and proofread them, himself. At this point, I don’t think even a proofreader will really help him on the global stage much, anyway.

Needless to say, we could all take a moment and see that even our unique president is human, despite the political climate and pressure of Washington and his position. The tweet sent news media and the internet into a frenzy, and we did, technically, spend a whole day or so saying something not-so-negative about him. This is, in some ways, progress. Whatever the original or intended origins of covfefe, we get to enjoy that it is a semi-interesting blip in the pop culture of out world. A blip that we will probably forget about until the “end of the year” videos start rolling in around December. Covfefe to you all.

Jake Depew

He said…

I’m a philosophy major, which means I spent the better part of my college career giving myself existential crises while pondering “the big questions.” You know the ones I’m talking about. What is the meaning of life? How can I trust anything my senses tell me if I know they can often be wrong? Do we really have free will if cause-and-effect exists? Imagine how foolish I feel now that I have seen The Big Question. No amount of reflection could have led me to such a line of questioning, yet here I stand with you, esteemed reader, on the edge of true enlightenment.

What is covfefe?

The word – strike that – sensation known as “covfefe” rocked the internet recently. President Trump abruptly ended a Tweet with the word, and it took mere moments for the speculation to begin. What exactly does “covfefe” mean? The Tweet seemed to be aimed at the major news networks. “Despite the constant negative press covfefe[…]” The lack of punctuation was just as baffling as the final word. With this context in mind, I retreated into my study to listen to the whispering of the Great Old Ones. I have come to two possible conclusions.

The most likely answer is that covfefe is the name of some eldritch creature from beyond the edge of our solar system. Covfefe is likely the twisted muse of the national news syndicates, and the subject of worship at their disturbing Bilderburg meetings. Our brave president is, obviously, warning us of the approaching danger.

Then there’s the less likely scenario, in which President Trump meant to say “coverage.” I guess that’s possible, too. “Despite the constant negative press coverage[…]” Now that I think about it, that’s probably it.

Honestly, I love this whole situation. We now have proof that nobody, not even President Trump, proofreads what is posted on that Twitter account. This is equal parts hilarious and terrifying. The president should probably have someone double check what they say. That being said, I don’t understand the reaction people had to the Tweet’s continued existence. After the Tweet had been up for hours, the president came out and goaded people into finding the true meaning of the word. This highlights what confuses me most about Trump. Half of his reactions are cringingly dumb and knee-jerk in nature. He is goaded far too easily for my liking, and he is overly defensive. But when something like this happens, he plays it off like it was all a big joke. It was a brilliant way to handle the situation. It just makes me wonder how much of his stage presence is an act.

Really, that’s all there is to it. Covfefe will live and die as an internet meme, and is a two-fold example of our president’s propensity for screwups and strategic masterstrokes. It was nice to see everyone just have fun with the political situation in this country. After the last year-and-a-half, you’d think everyone in America forgot how to crack a smile. Now if we can just take this attitude and apply it to politics in general, we might start undoing the social damage that the national media intentionally inflamed. We will have to stand together if we hope to face their master, Covfefe.