Twitter Hilariously Reacts to Trump’s Long-Winded 2016 Announcement

So yeah, that happened. Donald Trump officially announced his candidacy for the President of the United States via Periscope. Yes, Periscope — the livestream app popular among Twitter users. Major networks also carried it for a time — at least, before the Donald began rambling on — but honestly, Periscope.

As you can imagine, Twitter had a field day with the spectacle. The number of Chrome tabs I opened while skimming through social media’s best responses is too damn high, but here are the ones that were too good to pass up.

The whole affair began, erm, interestingly:

pic.twitter.com/lbmoGDDNIU

— Eliot Nelson (@eliotnelson) June 16, 2015

As for the jokes, they never really seemed stop:

WATCH IT MOVE. https://t.co/qF8DOc4ZEX — Benny (@bennyjohnson) June 16, 2015

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? pic.twitter.com/IvtNAEwGPp

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) June 16, 2015

this pizza announces a 2016 bid for President pic.twitter.com/rlmma7ZHb6 — BFF (@YrBFF) June 16, 2015

Drunk Guy Next To You At Bar Launches Presidential Campaign

— Eliot Nelson (@eliotnelson) June 16, 2015

if you’re old, white, and lost all concept of reality, there isn’t a better time to run for the Republican Presidential nomination — WJ (@WMsDiary) June 16, 2015

Then Trump finally said it! But he wouldn’t stop talking, especially about unrelated things. Understandably, many were confused:

So I think Donald Trump is running for President of China

— Raf Sanchez (@rafsanchez) June 16, 2015

TRUMP: “I JUST SOLD AN APARTMENT FOR $15 MILLION TO SOMEBODY FROM CHINA, AM I SUPPOSED TO DISLIKE HIM?” — Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) June 16, 2015

Trump: “Their [China’s] leaders are much smarter than our leaders.” Asian stereotypes!

— Amanda Terkel (@aterkel) June 16, 2015

Trump: “I will build a great wall—no one builds a wall better than me…and I would make Mexico pay for that wall” — Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) June 16, 2015

Maybe this wasn’t a political announcement at all:

Trump slam poetry.

— Benny (@bennyjohnson) June 16, 2015

As always, there was a reason for Trump’s inability to speak coherently:

Donald Trump’s remarks right now bear very little resemblance to his remarks as prepared for delivery. — Rebecca Berg (@rebeccagberg) June 16, 2015

Turns out, what he was actually saying looked almost nothing like his prepared remarks.

Yet one thing was very, very clear:

Unlike everyone else running for president, Donald Trump is not pretending he is like you.

— Amanda Terkel (@aterkel) June 16, 2015

At one point, Trump’s own musical selection tried to play him off stage:

Wow. The music tried to get Trump off the stage at his own rally. #sadviolin — Amanda Terkel (@aterkel) June 16, 2015

This may be the greatest announcement ever from an entertainment POV. Trump tossing to a Neil Young riff & coming back? The best #Trump2016

— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) June 16, 2015

Even the DNC got in on the trolling action:

DNC responds to Trump news with snark: “He adds some much-needed seriousness that has previously been lacking from the GOP field.” — Alex Pappas (@AlexPappas) June 16, 2015

Trump running for president begs the question: What would a Trump White House be like?

Imagine: President Trump printing out tweets and scribbling furious notes to reporters to mail from the White House.

— Elise! Foley (@elisefoley) June 16, 2015

If Donald wins the presidency he’ll host another season of celebrity apprentice to fill his cabinet — Thomas Novelly (@TomNovelly) June 16, 2015

In the end, everyone came away from the ordeal feeling two things: relief, and curiosity about what the response would be:

my face hurts i have been smiling for so long

— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) June 16, 2015

Looking forward to @tedcruz‘s statement on Trump entering the race

— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) June 16, 2015

NBC: “We will re-evaluate Trump’s role as host of “Celebrity Apprentice” should it become necessary, as we are committed to this franchise.”

— Reid J. Epstein (@reidepstein) June 16, 2015

SNL will not spoof this Trump speech. They will just rerun it in its entirety. It cannot be improved upon. #FullTrump

— Bruce Haynes (@BrucePurple) June 16, 2015

But the hands-down winner goes not so much to a reaction, but to a followup:

@AlexPappas If you include TV viewers

— Tom Wilson (@tomwilson23) June 16, 2015

[Image via Instagram]

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