Trump is going to build that damn wall and all people can talk about is avocados

If we didn't laugh, we'd cry
 By 
Marcus Gilmer
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

So President Donald Trump is still planning to build that wall, it's going to be a big wall, and he wants to make Mexico, scratch that, the American consumer, pay for it.

The proposed wall, which started as a giant insult but will now be a physical barrier along the U.S. and Mexico border, is going to cost a huge amount of money: $12 to $15 billion. Trump has repeatedly said he will make Mexico fund it and on Thursday afternoon his administration floated a less direct idea: a 20 percent tax on imports from Mexico.

If that tax were imposed, it would be way more difficult -- and way more expensive for regular Americans -- to get Mexican imports, among other potential problems. According to the U.S. Trade Representative website, Mexico was "the third largest supplier of goods imported in 2015."

The Trump tax, which is not yet a policy proposal, would apply to things produced in Mexico like vehicles, machinery, fruit, vegetables and perhaps even some of Trump's own suits. But the main thing people on Twitter seemed concerned with? The avocado.

On Thursday, avocados became a rallying point for jokes on Twitter as people tried to cope with an economically and diplomatically troubling idea.

Because if you didn't laugh, you'd cry.

The attention on the beloved and already expensive fruit is not new: It made cameos on viral post-election protest signs that took aim at America's racial divide.

Of course, avocados are far from the real problem here. To start, there's the potential economic impact of a trade feud with Mexico alongside disastrous humanitarian implications.

But maybe the protesters were right, sad as it is -- threaten the almighty avocado and people pay attention.

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Marcus Gilmer

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.

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