Trump’s Retweets Of Randy Quaid Prove That Everything’s Just Great In The White House
Randy Quaid #RandyQuaid
We’re no expert, but a lot can be gleaned about where someone’s head is at based on what they like and retweet on Twitter — particularly if you are, say, the president of the United States. If we were to guess what Donald Trump’s first-thing-Tuesday-morning chaotic retweets of actor Randy Quaid — who posted theatric videos of doom at the hands of socialists and Fox News’s “completely collapsed” ratings — it’s probably safe to assume things are not going that well.
On Tuesday, Trump shared a total of five tweets from Quaid to his personal account, including two ranting videos that at best resemble a disciplinary talk from a drama teacher and at worst remind us of an ‘80s YA adventure villain. The first video is from October 12, 2019 and shows Quaid taking a backward seat on a wooden chair on what looks to be a small stage. “Is this the way America goes? From George Washington to George Soros,” he begins staring unblinkingly into the camera. He continues to spout conspiracy theories about how those who are trying to trick the country into becoming a socialist nation are the same people who would have you believe there are “icebergs are melting into dinosaurs and train tracks stretching across the Pacific waters.” Quaid then issues a call to action to side with Trump.
Then, the second video, which was originally posted to Twitter on November 12, 2020, contains a new level of raving — figuratively and literally — because Quaid’s speech is incoherent and he is lit by a colorful strobe light looking like a nightmarish Santa Clause. “Fox News daytime ratings have completely collapsed!” Quaid says in a deep, booming voice with the camera focused on a tight shot of just his face. At one point he does actually descend into some sort of gibberish. “The only difference between the 2016 election and the 2020 election is Fox News,” he concludes.
Don’t believe us? Please feel free to check them out for yourself:
But wait, there is more! Trump also added his own commentary to three tweets in which Quaid calls for a complete re-vote using only paper ballots and called Trump an “astonishing man of the people.” The themes of these tweets stick to many of Trump’s typical talking points as of late: the election was stolen from him and people know it, he is amazing and doing the best, and that his loss is somehow a blow to democracy. “Are you listening Republicans?” Trump asks in one retweet demanding a complete re-vote.
It’s clear that as Trump tries to recover from the ongoing circus that is his current administration (see: Don Jr.’s COVID fever tweets and Rudy Giuliani’s…melting face), that things are not looking up. And throwing his support behind the insane ramblings of Randy Quaid is certainly not helping.
Quaid may be an award-winning actor known first for playing opposite of Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail, and then for his role as Cousin Eddie in the National Lampoon’s Vacation series, but he’s spent the last decade facing several legal problems. n September 2010, he and his wife were charged with burglary, failed to appear in court, and then absconded to Canada where they were deported in 2015. In November 2017, Quaid tweeted that he was approached by representatives from a super PAC asking if he would run against Bernie Sanders for his U.S. Senate seat in 2018. It is unclear whether he entertained that idea seriously as he didn’t end up running. (And, to save you a Google search: yes, he is Dennis Quaid’s brother.)
We already knew Trump was grasping at any chance to hold onto the presidency and his illusion of being re-elected, but we can’t imagine who these tweets would help convince anyone. Perhaps the only person who is excited about this is Randy Quaid himself, and that’s not saying much, if you watched the videos.