# Was Convfefe a deliberate distraction? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 1, 2017, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-convfefe-a-deliberate-distraction/787828 "2017-06-01T11:51:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-convfefe-a-deliberate-distraction/787828/21 "2017-06-02T06:32:15Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > As opposed to Hillary’s fine record of taking immediate personal responsibility for her endless cock-ups. > > “_Infamy ! Infamy ! They’ve all got it infamy !_” Hey! Let’s also discuss Adlai Stevenson’s foibles! And Wendell Wilkie’s! Oh, and what about Bob Dole! Fritz Mondale! Aaron Burr? Too easy. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-convfefe-a-deliberate-distraction/787828/22 "2017-06-02T06:34:21Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Convfefe is the sound you make when you abruptly withdraw without climating. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-convfefe-a-deliberate-distraction/787828/23 "2017-06-02T06:50:56Z")
If we’ve learned anything by now, it’s that, yes, Donald Trump really is that stupid, and you can take everything he does at face value. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-convfefe-a-deliberate-distraction/787828/24 "2017-06-02T08:34:28Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > This is Donald Trump we’re talking about. He may have withdrawn from the Paris Accord in an attempt to distract public attention from his spelling mistake. Golf clap. > [@Tranquilis](#): > > Really? He deliberately launched a typo that somehow he magically _knew_ would turn into a massive internet circle-jerk? I don’t think it works that way. I think it \*works \*though, in the same sense that it may “work” for a near-brainless chicken to just keep pecking artlessly at a button knowing that on average food will appear, without having any real clue of how or why. Trump just blunders around being “upfront” and dumbass, and it works for him. I say “upfront” in quotes because of course most of what he says isn’t true and (at some level) he may know that. But my view is that his lies are really how he thinks, even if how he thinks is stupid and almost entirely uninfluenced by facts. People sense that he is unfiltered and some people like that. I don’t for one moment seriously believe Trump thinks “ooh, I’ll send a controversial tweet and that will distract people while I carry out my next evil plan [mwahaha]”. I do think that he has spent a lifetime being the Big Guy Buffoon who says whateverthehell suits him at the time and whateverthehell will get him attention and yuks and admiration. He’s spent a lifetime not being sensible, measured and considered. It works for him because many of us like a good rogue, a person who has no filter between brain and mouth, a person who tells great tales that suit our prejudices and keep us amused even while knowing they are bullshitter. And while he’s using his charisma in these ways, his staff are working behind the scenes. The unfiltered tweets are all part of that. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-convfefe-a-deliberate-distraction/787828/25 "2017-06-02T14:05:59Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > In the past I’ve given that fucking moron too much credit for some of his “strategies”. In truth, it’s clear to me now he has a brain the size of a peanut and doesn’t have a fucking clue about any damn thing at all. > > “Covfefe” was an interrupted tweet. He either fell asleep or dropped the phone in the toilet or somebody snatched it out of his hands to stop him from saying something moronic. It most certainly was not deliberate. Keyboard faceplant, IMO. He likely had a mirror image of ‘covfefe’ imprinted on his forehead all the next day. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-convfefe-a-deliberate-distraction/787828/26 "2017-06-02T23:21:21Z")
> [@Tzigone](#): > > . . . then Spicer goes and says it was intentional and few people out there know what it means. . . That’s like when my cat falls off the end of the couch. She does what she can to make it look like she did it on purpose. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2017, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-convfefe-a-deliberate-distraction/787828/27 "2017-06-04T01:08:33Z")
> [@Tzigone](#): > > That’s what I thought (and that it was inconsequential and didn’t deserve the discussion it got), then Spicer goes and says it was intentional and few people out there know what it means. Which just sounds worse than an accident to me. No, it sounds like an excuse an idiot would use with other idiots. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > This is Donald Trump we’re talking about. He may have withdrawn from the Paris Accord in an attempt to distract public attention from his spelling mistake. Well played sir. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2017, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-convfefe-a-deliberate-distraction/787828/28 "2017-06-04T03:03:25Z")
Well, a few news outlets have been talking about what Sean Spicer meant. To me it was very obviously a joke. Now, don’t get me wrong: he told a joke so he didn’t have to answer the question. And not for the first time. But there’s nothing about that response that needs further analysis. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2017, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-convfefe-a-deliberate-distraction/787828/29 "2017-06-04T03:46:44Z")
Covfefe is the handle of the Russian hacker who hacked the election. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-convfefe-a-deliberate-distraction/787828/30 "2017-06-04T19:10:19Z")
My guess is that he was off his meds and asked Spicer for coffee. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2017, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-convfefe-a-deliberate-distraction/787828/31 "2017-06-05T14:00:17Z")
I always assumed he meant to type coverage. “Despite all the negative press coverage,” was an opening clause and he was going to make another whiny tweet about how he’s mistreated by the press. And the handling of this is ridiculous if he intended it as a distraction. The way to do it would be to admit it was a typo, then admonish the left for clearly having it out for him over a simple mistake. Sure,you wouldn’t do that right away. But that’s why the mistake would need to come earlier. I do believe Trump would sometimes say controversial things to get the focus back on him and not some other controversial thing. But that’s completely different from what happened here. Trump isn’t some genius–he just realizes that he can say shitty things to get attention. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2017, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-convfefe-a-deliberate-distraction/787828/32 "2017-06-05T16:15:46Z")
It’s been decades since anyone in politics was capable of that level on intrigue. I’m with **BigT**. He was trying to type coverage, fumbled the phone, and managed to hit ‘post’ while trying to catch it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-convfefe-a-deliberate-distraction/787828.md?page=1)