#WeeklyWTF: Racist Peanuts, Canine Constituents and Sexist Spooning
Welcome to the sophomore edition of the #WeeklyWTF, the Mediaite dynamo that showcases the absolute best of the wackiest sh*t in the week that was. Sure, a lot of important things happen in the news media, but let’s face it — the best stuff is the most off-the-wall nonsense the 24-hour news cycle has gifted (or cursed) society with. Here now, the best of the worst from the past 168 hours.
Like when John Oliver and Donald Trump had a pissing contest…
Following a CBS This Morning appearance at which he denounced Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Last Week Tonight host John Oliver found himself in the Donald’s crosshairs on social media. Trump tweeted about the “very boring and low rated show,” which he claimed he’d been invited to.
.@thehill John Oliver had his people call to ask me to be on his very boring and low rated show. I said “NO THANKS” Waste of time & energy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2015
The show’s Facebook account responded quickly, saying “at no point did we invite Donald Trump to appear” on their “boring show.”
Like when a Variety film critic complained about The Peanuts Movie’s lack of diversity…
Variety international film critic Peter Debruge gave a generally positive review of the CGI-animated film adaptation of the classic Charles Schulz comic strip. Except, of course, for the whole “Why doesn’t Charlie Brown have a non-white love interest?” complaint. “A little modernization wouldn’t have hurt, especially in the diversity department,” he wrote, adding: “A non-white love interest would have been as progressive as Schulz’s tomboyish depiction of Peppermint Patty was back in the day.”
Like when MSNBC royally f*cked up a Republican poll graphic…
During Wednesday’s episode of All In w/ Chris Hayes, MSNBC viewers noticed something rather strange about the show’s segment on the latest Quinnipiac University poll on the Republican presidential candidates. The graphic displaying the results contained three separate, egregious errors.
Ben Carson and Donald Trump‘s numbers were correctly placed by their names, but their photos were switched. As for Marco Rubio, the image used for his bar was simply a slightly tilted version of the one used for Ted Cruz. (At least Rubio and Cruz’s numbers were correct.)
Like when Hillary Clinton addressed the concerns of “voter” Clarabelle the Dog…
Clarabelle the rescue dog asked Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton a question about border security at a campaign rally in Coralville, Iowa. Or, Clarabelle’s spokesperson, Max Rubin asked Clinton about border security on the animal’s behalf. Clinton answered the question with a joking reference to Clarabelle’s preferred activity of chasing rabbits in the back yard. Yes, this actually happened, and yes, Clarabelle’s (Rubin’s) bullsh*t has been dealt with by several other current presidential candidates.
Like when Ben Carson released a rap ad…
The campaign for Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson released a 60-second rap ad targeting urban voters in several major metropolitan areas. While the lead rapper says, “Inspire! Refire! Ben Carson 2016, vote and support for Ben Carson, for our next president, it’d be awesome,” a chorus of supporting rappers chant “Vote!” in the background.
The Internet obviously thought it was terrible, and spent most of Thursday morning ridiculing Carson and his campaign for it. Later on, during The Nightly Show, host Larry Wilmore exclaimed that he couldn’t “listen to this sh*t.”
Like when Slate claimed that spooning was sexist…
Slate associate editor J. Bryan Lowder began the website’s new sleep blog with an opinion piece about how spooning — the act of cuddling with another person while laying down, most often in bed — was inherently sexist. “Big spoons are manly and will take care of you (provided you let them use you to take care of themselves); little spoons are fragile, passive creatures that need to be held and kept safe,” he wrote. “This, of course, is fundamentally a sexist arrangement.” The rapid response to the post on social media quickly turned in into the day’s #BabyHitler.
Check back each Friday afternoon for the Mediaite staff’s full run down of the week’s best in bizarre.
[Image via screengrabs]
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