Donald Trump is trying to shut down the government in order to build his border wall, and the Department of Homeland Security yesterday published a press release that was, apparently, supposed to help with this effort.
It didn’t. Titled simply “Walls Work” and complete with before-and-after pictures, the release was full of grammatical mistakes and bizarre pronouncements.
“DHS is committed to building wall and building wall quickly,” it began. “We are not replacing short, outdated and ineffective wall with similar wall. Instead, under this President we are building a wall that is 30-feet high. FACT: Prior to President Trump taking office, we have never built wall that high.”
Twitter, of course, was quick to call out the press release:
Did @MeCookieMonster write this press release?
Replace wall with cookie and I swear…..Cookie is moonlighting with DHS. pic.twitter.com/cCpgs7tX1r
— Melissa Garriga 💕 (@MelissaAGarriga) December 13, 2018
What on earth? https://t.co/iWAVl6pvQD
— Michelangelo Signorile (@MSignorile) December 13, 2018
This is so intensely embarrassing. https://t.co/qxutpY368c pic.twitter.com/Y245pTvB1L
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) December 13, 2018
This, somehow, is an actual DHS press release: "DHS is committed to building wall and building wall quickly." https://t.co/T3p6ecj4NS pic.twitter.com/lcDXZozvo6
— Christopher Ingraham🦗 (@_cingraham) December 13, 2018
The only explanation I have for this is that they're using "building wall" in the same sense as say, "laying pipe" or "stacking wood." Although I've never seen "wall" used in that context before.
— Christopher Ingraham🦗 (@_cingraham) December 13, 2018
You can actually read this press release from DHS with a Russian accent and it makes a lot more sense, particularly the first paragraph.https://t.co/rl7rp7VkVK
— Ben Greenberg (@hummusonrails) December 13, 2018
‘Never Built Wall That High’: DHS Takes Odd Tone In Press Release On Border Wall https://t.co/Sh48vodxEO via @TPM
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) December 13, 2018
"DHS is committed to building wall and building wall quickly. We are not replacing short, outdated and ineffective wall with similar wall."
h/t @PaulSzoldra for this DHS release that seems like it was written in Chinese & run through Google Translate https://t.co/bjR9hvt9DI
— Wesley Morgan (@wesleysmorgan) December 13, 2018
I forced a bot to watch 1,000 hours of Donald Trump rambling about building a wall, and then asked it to write a DHS press release: https://t.co/QLJlM9WH2k
— Melissa Jordan (@mjjordan7) December 13, 2018
Holy sh*t this is an actual DHS press release. And they are treating "wall" like it is an abstract noun that needs no quantification, like "air" or "dignity." pic.twitter.com/RPPy33TJj8
— Teddy Goff (@teddygoff) December 13, 2018
As one commenter reminded us, it would be funny if people’s lives weren’t at stake:
Kidding aside, don't overlook the dehumanizing language in the rest of the release. "a violent mob of 1,000 people stormed our Southern border" https://t.co/T3p6ecj4NS pic.twitter.com/pk8FIJzga0
— Christopher Ingraham🦗 (@_cingraham) December 13, 2018
