IL Congressman's 'Covfefe' Act Aims To Preserve Trump's Tweets & Also Troll Him
By Stephen Gossett in News on Jun 12, 2017 6:00PM
Photo via Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL)
You know the old tale: President tweets gibberish; gibberish becomes meme; meme inspires legislation to preserve presidential gibberish.
OK, so we are in fact in unchartered territory—aside perhaps from overextending a joke's natural lifeline—as Rep. Mike Quigley has introduced the 'Covfefe' Act, which if passed would add the term "social media" to the Presidential Records Act. The idea is that any presidential late-night Twitter binges would, explicitly under the law, be preserved for posterity along with other "presidential communication and statements"
If not passed, the bill will nonetheless remain a pretty sweet potshot.
Quigley made his gag case in a release:
"In order to maintain public trust in government, elected officials must answer for what they do and say; this includes 140-character tweets. President Trump’s frequent, unfiltered use of his personal Twitter account as a means of official communication is unprecedented. If the President is going to take to social media to make sudden public policy proclamations, we must ensure that these statements are documented and preserved for future reference. Tweets are powerful, and the President must be held accountable for every post."
If Trump is going to take to social media to make public policy proclamations, we must ensure these statements are preserved. #COVFEFEAct
— Mike Quigley (@RepMikeQuigley) June 12, 2017
To maintain public trust in gov, elected officials must answer for what they do and say, incl. 140-character tweets https://t.co/Qv1ZweNVeg
— Mike Quigley (@RepMikeQuigley) June 12, 2017
As the Hill points out, National Archives spokesperson Miriam Kleiman has said that Trump's tweets, along with less ballyhooed presidential social mouthpieces like Instagram, would be treated as presidential records. Quigley's act, which—in the fine Congressional tradition of shoehorning a title into an existing acronym—stands for Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically for Engagement, would amend the law to make that practice official.
Trump tweeted the typo heard round the world on May 31. He then asked the world to "enjoy!" the nonsense. The world, including Quigley, did oblige.
Twitter/CNN
As evidenced above, screenshots do still work; but we take your point, Congressman. White House spokesman Sean Spicer did after all say last week that Trump's twitterings are "considered official statements by the President of the United States."
Trump has yet to comment about Quigley's 'Covfefe' Act. But we're watching his Twitter.