year_in_review
This year in review first appeared in the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter. If you want to get content like this in your inbox everyday, subscribe here.
🗳️ 10 Political Social Media Fails in 2022
1) Dr. Oz’s crudité
During his failed Senate run, Dr. Mehmet Oz tried to make a point about inflation by posting a video in which he blasted around a grocery store (whose name he mispronounced) picking out items for crudité, better known to us little people as a veggie tray. People responded by roasting the holy hell out of the good doctor and his vegetables. Salsa and asparagus? Get real dude.
2) Truth Social
It’s hard to imagine a social media platform that beats the FUBAR set by Truth Social. It’s been delayed, investigated, infiltrated, and generally been a cluster fuck. Things are so bad that a certain spray-tanned Florida resident has resorted to practically begging people not to flee.
3) The “return” of Q
The supposed government insider code named Q who gave rise to the QAnon conspiracy theory fell silent in December 2020. QAnon remained rudderless for 18 long months. Then in June, Q returned at long last. There’s just one problem: Nobody thinks it’s really Q. Not even QAnon followers—who usually believe practically anything—are convinced. Hashtag fail.
4) Everything about Ron Watkins’ congressional campaign
Speaking of QAnon, Ron Watkins ran for Congress this year. You’d think that the man widely believed to have played the role of Q, which sparked a global conspiracy theory followed by millions, would make a formidable political candidate. Nope. Watkin campaigned with all the personality of belly button lint and likability of toe jam—though they’d probably have gotten more votes than he did.
5) Eric Adams’ “low skill workers” comment
Being mayor of the largest city in the United States is a tough job. New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) made it even harder when he said in front of cameras, “Low skill workers like cooks, messengers and Dunkin’ Donuts employees don’t have the academic skills to sit in a corner office.” It was one of the most massively viral unforced errors of the year. Smh.
6) Ye
There’s no one reason why Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is on the list of biggest political social media fails of 2022. There are several. Threatening his ex’s boyfriend. Antisemitism. More antisemitism. Offering to buy Parler. Becoming too toxic for Parler. Campaigning for president alongside a white supremacist and far-right troll. Someone should take that man’s phone away.
7) Marjorie Taylor Greene, multiple offenses
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) loves being in the internet’s mouth. And she clearly doesn’t care if she’s getting negative or positive attention. This year alone, she’s spewed fountains of hate, been suspended from Twitter for said hate, confused Nazi police with cold tomato soup, defended Alex Jones for his Sandy Hook lies, and just generally been a nuisance on the timeline. Be better.
8) Ted Cruz going full ‘Karen’
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) should really stay away from airports. Last year, he got busted jetting off to Cancun while his constituents literally froze to death. This year, he was filmed having a Karen-style meltdown on airport personnel after he missed a flight. It got so heated they even called the cops.
9) Conservative cope after the midterms
Republicans were pumped leading up to the 2022 midterms. The results burst right-wing bubbles big time. They only grabbed a handful of seats in the House and didn’t manage to gain control of the Senate. Conservatives’ election night livestreams turned into real-time demonstrations of the seven stages of grief. It was an all-you-can-cope buffet.
10) Trump’s “major announcement”
People were pretty curious when former President Donald Trump said he had a major announcement to make. Speculation ran wild. Would it be a running mate? Was he being arrested? Getting divorced? Wrong, wrong, and wrong. It was … drumroll … an NFT. Yes. An NFT.
