Why the White House keeps shitposting

A political comms professional breaks down Trump’s meme media strategy, Tina Nguyen [no paywall – The Verge: “Last week was a grim reminder that no matter what sort of horror is being perpetrated or how many people end up dead, the Trump administration’s knee-jerk response is to shitpost through it. The White House’s response on X to abducting the head of a sovereign nation? “FAFO”. The response to an ICE agent shooting a woman in broad daylight? A Buzzfeed-style listicle of “57 Times Sick, Unhinged Democrats Declared War on Law Enforcement.” ICE agents arresting protesters? “Welcome to the Find Out stage.” To the vast majority of people following current events, the Trump administration’s meme-ing is blunt and cruel. But the jaded political insider will also view Trump’s meme fusillade as an element of a media strategy known as “rapid response”: the full-time work of quickly shaping the political narrative of a breaking news event, sometimes within minutes, before the news media and your opponents can shape it for you. “Every political office, every political campaign, has a dedicated operation that helps them respond strategically to events in the news that are out of their control.” Lis Smith, a high-profile Democratic communications strategist based in New York City, told me. It’s a profession that dates back to the beginning of the 24-hour news cycle, when cable shows could quickly assemble a panel of pundits to discuss current events, and the workload has grown exponentially in the age of social media. “You cannot control all the narratives that are going to be out there, so you need to be able to manage the chaos that’s coming into your world.”