#AskTrump: how The Donald’s Twitter session went catastrophically wrong

The Internet rubbed its collective hands in glee and disbelief last night as Republican joker and serial offender Donald Trump embarked on an ill-considered visit to Twitter HQ in New York and took part in an #AskTrump session live on Twitter. Not since Daniel took an afternoon stroll into the Lions Den has one man been so mercilessly ravaged in front of a large audience. It was karmic retribution of the most gratifying kind.

Ironically, politicians never seem to learn from history. These kind of attempts at being cool and switched on and accessible have a nasty habit of taking a turn for the worse. Even beloved, young politicos like Mmusi Maimane can find their carefully plotted talking points and well-groomed issues being diverted into something far removed from what they were hoping.

The feeding frenzy began at 4pm when @realDonaldTrump tweeted “#AskTrump Send me your questions to answer live from @TwitterNYC later this afternoon.

The questions that poured in were evenly divided between Trump’s bizarre appearance and his abrasive and offensive politics. It was hard to keep track of which Trump themes played out the most on the night.

Here are a couple of gems from last night’s grilling:

#AskTrump Is Jon Snow alive?

— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) September 21, 2015

So a Muslim, a woman, and a Mexican walk in a bar, who’s rights do you alienate first? #AskTrump

— Allie♛ (@Anoudaldosari_) September 21, 2015

#AskTrump If you had 1 shot, or 1 opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted. In one moment, would you capture it, or just let it slip?

— Tyler Hansen (@tjhansen) September 21, 2015

Remember when Macaulay Culkin got lost in New York and you couldn’t be bothered to help find his parents? #AskTrump pic.twitter.com/BvQVcFlWcx

— NEO EDMUND -OFFICIAL (@NeoEdmund1) September 21, 2015

#AskTrump if you can’t control your hair, how will you control our country?

— Jimmy Dean (@JakeSchenthal) September 22, 2015

#AskTrump Do you think this potato looks like you? pic.twitter.com/E6RUFPcwth

— joe heenan (@joeheenan) September 21, 2015

Would you describe your racism as opportunistic or deep-seated? #AskTrump

— Nick (@angry_eyebrowz) September 21, 2015

You get the idea.

To his credit, Trump brushed it all off in his customary unflappable manner.

I had a great time at @TwitterNYC #AskTrump pic.twitter.com/RfWQdDPB33

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 21, 2015

Part of me can’t help wondering if the good folk at Twitter knew exactly how this would turn out. Could it be that this was Twitter’s deliberate attempt to undermine Trump and to give the internet the chance to land a karmic blow in defence of freedom and liberalism and good taste?

I wouldn’t be surprised.