
It’s surprising that people can still find something to enjoy in the roasting Malcolm Turnbull got from Donald Trump back in February, but by Jove they’ve found themselves a way. After the full transcript leaked – of Trump being rambling angry and incomprehensible, and Turnbull being obsequious and meek – people have been having a real good time with it.
Many of the responses have been focused on not only Trump’s incomprehensible anger and Turnbull’s uselessness, but also the utterly transactional nature of a conversation which is fundamentally about human beings.
https://twitter.com/LisaVisentin/status/893224611608838144
https://twitter.com/MarkDiStef/status/893114242907295744
https://twitter.com/oz_f/status/893221841321340928
Trump: we don’t want the refugees they are probably bad
Turnbull: Actually? They are good. We keep them on a prison island nevertheless— Bec Shaw (@Brocklesnitch) August 3, 2017
Incredible. Turnbull admits the lie of Aus border policy. Even Trump couldn’t quite believe it. #auspol pic.twitter.com/QrGkpu8CCS
— Nikola Čašule (@NikolaCasule) August 4, 2017
But besides being a sobering reflection of politics divorced from humanity and a reminder that no matter what kind of insanity is going down in the United States, Australia is still leagues ahead when it comes to human rights abuse, it is also… you know, very odd.
There’s an interesting division between Australians and Americans on it, actually – Americans tend to think Turnbull destroyed Trump with facts and logic, when most Australians think Turnbull is clearly insanely eager to please and seems far more forthcoming on the real motivations behind our country’s border policy than he is with actual voters.
Behold – Americans (and others) thinking Turnbull somehow was the sensible adult in this chat:
https://twitter.com/abbydphillip/status/893118796105482241
Here’s the very moment Malcolm Turnbull realises that Trump is not exactly the sharpest tool in the box… https://t.co/qVtMonVwaP pic.twitter.com/14XIpyiEnn
— Leo Hickman (@LeoHickman) August 3, 2017
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had no idea what he was getting into https://t.co/KYnbHPY99r
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) August 4, 2017
I think we can all agree that they both suck quite a bit.
https://twitter.com/courtney_ro/status/893226093083111424
https://twitter.com/Bro_Pair/status/893129122494513152
TURNBULL: Hello, Mr. President, here is a normal sentence you can reply to, with words.
TRUMP: YEEHAW MY MIND IS A SEWER— Kaleb Horton (@kalebhorton) August 3, 2017
https://twitter.com/jrhennessy/status/893206144239271936