It’s been a decidedly busy first week for the Donald Trump administration, in ways that have stirred up a firestorm of protest, controversy, confusion, and criticism. And now mockery.
Take a look at what’s happening over at the Trump Hotels official Twitter account. It’s nothing new for people to fish up years-old tweets from people and institutions freshly relevant in the news—White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer got a dose of that treatment when social media users discovered his peculiar, disparaging obsession with Dippin’ Dots.
That’s what seems to be happening now with a 5-year-old tweet from @TrumpHotels, authored long before literally anyone (with the exception of Adam Carolla, perhaps) had any idea that Trump would eventually ascend to the White House. Dated Oct. 11, 2011, it asks a simple question.
Tell us your favorite travel memory – was it a picture, a souvenir, a sunset? We’d love to hear it!
— Trump Hotels (@TrumpHotels) October 11, 2011
And beginning Saturday, surely spurred by the massive outcry over the executive order banning Syrian refugees and temporarily barring incoming travel from six other majority-Muslim nations, the replies began to flow in. What’s your favorite travel memory, Trump Hotels asks? Plenty of people had answers.
It was this beautiful dream where the doors to all your hotels were closed for business. #trumpboycotthasalreadybegun
— Andrew Bowen (@AndrewSBowen) January 29, 2017
I remember the old days, when you could travel abroad without feeling ashamed of being an American in the Trump era.
— David Walker (@DavidWalk3) January 28, 2017
Visiting San Francisco – the American city my grandparents settled in after leaving the Philippines after WWII.
— Cate Sevilla (@CateSevilla) January 29, 2017
They escaped concentration camps and a country devastated by war. They weren’t turned away and I’m here today because of it.
— Cate Sevilla (@CateSevilla) January 29, 2017
oh thanks for asking @TrumpHotels My day at #turnberry = awesome wifi – great security & knowing Trump was watching through the window. pic.twitter.com/jEUgNONtVH
— Janey Godley (@JaneyGodley) January 28, 2017
My ancestors came by boat from Ireland. @realDonaldTrump would have said OK because they were white. Shame on his bigotry today
— Katy Muldoon 🟧 (@katymuldoon) January 28, 2017
Chanting “Shame” outside your Washington D.C. hotel with a million people last weekend! @TrumpHotels
— Joan Walsh (@joanwalsh) January 29, 2017
.@TrumpHotels When I saw JFK flooded with people who refuse to accept the #MuslimBan! I’ll never forget that moment!
— collazoprojects (@collazoprojects) January 29, 2017
https://twitter.com/j_restle/status/825396751997734912
When I was able to leave the country and then come back. Also my ancestors coming from Portugal, Uzbekistan, Poland, Russia
— Jessamyn West (@jessamyn) January 29, 2017
Suffice to say, some social media manager somewhere is probably sifting through the wreckage right now. It’s no surprise that so many of the replies have centered around the immigrant experience, whether firsthand or by way of parents and grandparents—this one, from Racked editor-at-large Aminatou Sow made the point particularly powerfully.
https://twitter.com/aminatou/status/825473535791493120
Obviously, nobody running a social media account for a hotel chain can see the future. But it’s safe to say that if we’d cracked time travel yet, this one would’ve been undone well before the words “Trump” and “president” were ever in the same sentence.
