Let’s be honest here, Donald Trump isn’t the best reader.
He’s also not very good at typing, spelling, and often writes in ALL CAPS using a giant Sharpie marker. While we as a nation have grown somewhat used to his embarrassing linguistic shortcomings, he still managed to surprise people on Tuesday while signing The Great American Outdoors Act.
In a poetic sentence he clearly did not write, Trump started listing off some of America’s most famous National Parks.
“When young Americans experience the breathtaking beauty of the Grand Canyon, when their eyes widen in amazement as Old Faithful bursts into the sky, when they gaze upon Yosemite’s towering sequoias…”
But when Trump pronounced “Yosemite’s” he did not say “Yo-sem-it-ees.” Instead he said Yo-semites.” Realizing his mistake, Trump tried again, but this time it sounded more like “Yo-sem-in-ites”
Yikes!
It, naturally, has prompted a lot of riffing on Twitter, with people making various version of the same “Yo, Semites!” and “Yo! -Semites” jokes.
And of course, “Yo Semites” is trending on Twitter.
I think he's trying to say, "Yosemite's", but someone forgot to type it phonetically for him, so… Yo Semites, it is.
What a fucking idiot. #25thAmendmentNow [1] pic.twitter.com/pywWGbZEax [2]
— Holly Figueroa O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) August 4, 2020 [3]
Mark, if Biden said Yo Semites, I promise you it would get reported. Or Bush. Or Obama! https://t.co/3xNOBttfp3 [4]
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 4, 2020 [5]
"What? No, that's totally how its pronounced. Yo Semites! It's always been that way. It's an old Jewish Native American name. Not many people know that."
— The National Park Service, soon, probably. https://t.co/SZYd5EvJEk [6]— Stonekettle (@Stonekettle) August 4, 2020 [7]
Trump was just having a flashback to when he used to yell "Yo, Semites!" out the car window in Queens before he threw a glass bottle at a gathering of Jews.
— ๐๐ธ๐ถ ๐ญ๐ฎ ๐๐ต๐พ๐ถ๐ฎ (@_pseudo_nom) August 4, 2020 [8]
i can only hear "yo, semites" as sylvester stallone doing a "yo, adrian" voice now. and now you will too. https://t.co/OXcXMjOKjh [9]
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) August 4, 2020 [10]
I guess people who don't like Yosemite are anti-yo-semites https://t.co/ldzjLtMo2q [11]
— Eric Fingerhut (@ericfingerhut) August 4, 2020 [12]
Who will ever forget @BarackObama [13]'s visit to Yo Semites. pic.twitter.com/8r2Ny2xSYc [14]
— Derek Summerville (@D_Summerville) August 4, 2020 [15]
tfw youโre the president and donโt know how to pronounce โYosemiteโ pic.twitter.com/r1oyzrXb6D [16]
— DNC War Room (@DNCWarRoom) August 4, 2020 [17]