Twitter Has Field Day With Trump’s ‘Cocked and Loaded’ Tweet: ‘Pls Delete or Rephrase’

Social media quickly latched on to President Donald Trump’s use of the phrase “cocked and loaded” in describing the U.S. military’s readiness to attack Iran.

….On Monday they shot down an unmanned drone flying in International Waters. We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it, not….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2019

Trump tweeted out the phrasing, a deviation from the usual term “locked and loaded,” while tweeting out an explanation about why he abruptly called off a major military strike against Iran that would have been in retaliation for a shot-down drone aircraft.

Twitter quickly caught on and joked about the phrasing.

Trump: “We were cocked and loaded.”
Editors everywhere: “Pls delete or rephrase.”

— Jeffrey Kluger (@jeffreykluger) June 21, 2019

“Cocked and loaded” sounds like the porn version of a John Wayne film.

— Tina Dupuy (@TinaDupuy) June 21, 2019

“Cocked and Loaded.” Michael Wolff just got off the phone with his publisher.

— Michael Weiss (@michaeldweiss) June 21, 2019

Cocked and loaded. pic.twitter.com/GYbXzpojuw

— Marsha Lederman (@marshalederman) June 21, 2019

Not to belabor an obvious point, but “cocked and loaded” is a terrible way to describe the process of getting ready to launch an act of war, but one that Trump no doubt assumes (correctly) will play well with his base https://t.co/JW7ER6Kh2H

— Mathew Ingram (@mathewi) June 21, 2019

Isn’t the term “locked and loaded?” Trump says military was “cocked and loaded” to retaliate against Iran for downing US drone, but stopped it 10 minutes before launch after being told some 150 people could die.

— PETER MAER (@petermaer) June 21, 2019

“Cocked and loaded.”
The president talks about being prepared for an airstrike on Iran the same way I talk about opening three different browsers to buy Phish tickets.

— Jarrett Bellini (@JarrettBellini) June 21, 2019

me: oh god we are all going to die

also me: COCKED AND LOADED https://t.co/lV6cWsbzjB

— David Mack (@davidmackau) June 21, 2019

The new MAGA will be “cocked and loaded”

— drew olanoff (@yoda) June 21, 2019

Cocked and loaded? Is that a military term

— jim manley (@jamespmanley) June 21, 2019

“Cocked and loaded” is my new trivia team name https://t.co/ejZrawD3jI

— Catherine Thompson (@KT_thomps) June 21, 2019

(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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