'Literally the most un-American thing': Donald Trump calls himself 'King' and brings proof to match the title | The Mary Sue
The official White House X account published a digital portrait of President Donald Trump. The photo of Trump was undoubtedly stately, but definitely not
The official White House X account published a digital portrait of President Donald Trump. The photo of Trump was undoubtedly stately, but definitely not presidential.
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The White House captioned the photo with, âCongestion pricing is dead. Manhattan, and all of New York, is saved. Long live the king!â President Trump is quoted by the account as the source of that statement. It seems that even the president himself couldnât resist the allure of calling himself a king. The controversial portrait attached to the tweet was a digital portrait that resembles a Time magazine cover. In the photo was Trump wearing a crownâthe city behind him is implied to be New York City.
Social media largely criticized Trumpâs photo for being undemocratic. One X user worriedly tweeted in response to Trumpâs portrait. They pointed out that Trump claimed to be the sole interpreter of the law. Now, heâs declaring himself to be a king. Both were social media posts from Trumpâs Truth Social account, but theyâre nonetheless concerning to hear from an elected president of the United States. As that X user puts it:
Travis Matthew
Trumpâs supporters on social media werenât so concerned. On the other hand, they merely view this charade as a troll post from their president. Some of them even openly relish the fact that there are people concerned over Trumpâs messaging. Simply put, Trump canât do wrong, and the opposition just has âTrump Derangement Syndrome.â
@america_mad
The MAGA crowd also thought that Trump rightfully deserved the title of king after getting rid of congestion pricing in New York. âFACT CHECK: Trump used to be known as the âKing of New Yorkâ in the 80âs and 90âs. That is the reference,â said one Trump supporter online. âThis also references Trump ending âcongestion pricingâ in New York which would have charged workers $9 per day just to enter Manhattan.â
@ParodyAoc
There was frustration about congestion pricing among New Yorkâs commuters. Particularly, passenger vehicles will have to pay nine dollars just to enter Manhattan by 60th Street during peak hours. While traffic is a major concern in the city, commuters wouldâve had to shell out extra because of these tolls.
However, in the photo, Trump is wearing a crown as the supposed president of the United States. It would be difficult for the average person to interpret that Trump is âjustâ the king of New York City. Context is important, but thereâs no twist to be had when Trump labeled himself as, generally, a king. There was no explicit mention of being the âkingâ of NYC in his post.
Unfortunately, people will see what they want to see. Regardless of the reason, they will defend someone whom theyâve pledged their allegiance to. Meanwhile, the Constitution itself rebukes aristocratic titles in practice and principle. Trump may not have formally adopted the title of king, but heâs far too confident with marketing himself as one. Perhaps a king that delivers is all that matters to some of his supportersâa style of clientelist politics. It doesnât matter if democratic principles are eroded and imposing speech becomes the norm so long as these elected officials give handouts to appease the mob.
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