J.K. Rowling’s response to Donald Trump Jr.’s tweet about Halloween candy is fire
In case you missed it, Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., recently posted a Halloween tweet in which he claimed he would take away half his daughter’s candy in order to teach her about socialism (what?). Author J.K. Rowling then responded to Trump Jr.’s Halloween tweet — and in the best way ever, we might add.
To give you a little more background, Trump Jr. initially posted a photo of his daughter Chloe, along with the caption, “I’m going to take half of Chloe’s candy tonight & give it to some kid who sat at home. It’s never too early to teach her about socialism.”
Many on Twitter were quick to point out that Trump Jr.’s logic was flawed at best. First, isn’t giving candy to other kids just sharing? Second, in this scenario and using his logic, wouldn’t the kid who went around asking for free candy (aka his daughter) be the socialist? Needless to say, the analogy was overly simplistic and reduced socialist policies, like national healthcare and disability benefits, to “lazy” people asking for “handouts.”
Here’s the original tweet:
I’m going to take half of Chloe’s candy tonight & give it to some kid who sat at home. It’s never to early to teach her about socialism. pic.twitter.com/3ie9C0jv2G
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 31, 2017
And that’s where hero J.K. Rowling came in.
Fill her bucket with old candy left by her great-grandfather, then explain that she has more because she's smarter than all the other kids. https://t.co/0lbhHYyFe4
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) November 1, 2017
FIRE.
Rowling is of course pointing out the irony of a man born with vast amounts of inherited wealth implying that recipients of government benefits don’t work for what they have. It was the perfect, pithy response to a guy who has seemingly no awareness of his immense privilege. And we’d expect nothing less from Rowling.
Others on Twitter also had *thoughts.* false
Perhaps the child at home is disabled or otherwise unable to go trick or treating? Did you consider that Don?
— 🇺🇸 𝘗𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘗𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘺 🇳🇱 (@pithypacky) October 31, 2017
You mean the candy that she got for free out of the goodness of strangers' hearts? 😂😂😂
— Attorney-at-Law (@TheGlare_TM) October 31, 2017
Let this serve as a reminder to be careful before you post poorly thought-out notions to Twitter. The world, including Rowling, is ready to pounce.