Donald Trump Jr. uses awful dog-eating meme to attack Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
UPDATE: Dec. 7, 2018, 1:57 p.m. EST Updated to include Ocasio-Cortez's response.
Donald Trump Jr. just posted something very dumb and bad on Instagram and I swear this is not a repeat.
This time, the president's son went after newly-elected congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her democratic socialist background by using a meme about eating dogs.
Making the whole post even worse is Junior's caption, "It's funny cuz it's true!!!" Setting aside for a moment the racist roots of dog-eating jokes, the meme is likely a reference to the currently horrific conditions in Venezuela where citizens have reportedly been reduced to hunting and eating rats and dogs due to food shortages due to the country's economic collapse which many blame on its current socialist president. It's been a recent tag line of conservatives, who seemed spooked by the success of democratic socialist candidates like Ocasio-Cortez.
Not that Ocasio-Cortez was going to stand by quietly. Quote tweeting the story on Friday, the young congresswoman-elect fired a few shots across Junior's bow, reminding him of some stormy days to come.
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Of course, the cause of Venezuela's collapse is more nuanced than just "because socialism," but one key point Junior seems to miss here is what agenda, exactly, Ocasio-Cortez and her peers are backing. The Washington Post notes that Ocasio-Cortez favors a European style of democratic socialism that's far different than the socialism that was implemented by Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.
But, of course, nuance has no place when you've got a totally scorching meme that leverages the suffering of millions to score a quick political burn, right, Donny?
Marcus Gilmer is Mashable's Assistant Real-Times News Editor on the West Coast, reporting on breaking news from his location in San Francisco. An Alabama native, Marcus earned his BA from Birmingham-Southern College and his MFA in Communications from the University of New Orleans. Marcus has previously worked for Chicagoist, The A.V. Club, the Chicago Sun-Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.
