Republicans Melt Down Over Escalator Incident

They call for arrests after Dear Leader and Melania had to walk up stairs.

After spending the past week demanding the firing, arrest and prosecution of every Democrat who failed to sufficiently mourn right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk, MAGA blood is up again calling for officials at the UN to be imprisoned for an alleged escalator prank.

When Trump and his adoring wife Melania arrived at the UN to give the single most embarrassing speech ever made by an American president to the General Assembly, they stepped on to the escalator only to have it stop working. Melania gave Trump one of her famous looks of disgust as they stood there for several seconds. She finally just walked up the stairs and a few seconds later Trump lumbered up clearly annoyed.

As he began the speech, Trump complained that the teleprompter wasn’t working properly to allow him to read Stephen Miller’s deranged speech: “I don’t mind making this speech without a teleprompter. Because the teleprompter is not working. I can only say that whoever is operating this teleprompter is in big trouble.”

They got it working a few minutes later.

At that point there wasn’t much reaction from the MAGA cult on social media. Trump complains about everything, and he complained about his teleprompters dozens of times during the campaign while also claiming that he really didn’t need only since only Joe Biden supposedly had to rely on them to make a speech. So MAGA probably thought at that point it was just his usual griping and grumbling.

What really got things going was a subsequent post by press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who said this: “If someone at the UN intentionally stopped the escalator as the President and First Lady were stepping on, they need to be fired and investigated immediately.”

AP’s UN correspondent Farnoush Amiri issued a statement from the UN that was widely circulated on right-wing social media, but they weren’t about to believe the Fake News or the Deep State: “A UN official said the UN understands that someone from the president’s party who ran ahead of him inadvertently triggered the stop mechanism on the escalator. The official also said the White House was operating the teleprompter for Trump.”

Deputy WH Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich: “I call bullshit.”

Fox host Jesse Watters a few hours later on The Five: “They sabotaged them and they could have hurt the first lady. This is an insurrection. We either need to leave the UN or we need to bomb it.”

Leavitt later appeared on Jesse Watters’ primetime show on Fox to pour gasoline on a fire that was already spreading rapidly. Watters: “It does appear to be sabotage with the escalator and the teleprompter. Leavitt: It appears that way to me. If we find these were UN staffers who were purposely trying to literally trip up the president and the first lady, there better be accountability for those people and I will personally see to it.”

“Also, the audio inside of the room was much lower and different for the president than the previous speaker. So when you put all of this together - teleprompter, escalator - it doesn’t look like a coincidence to me. And I know that we have people, including the Secret Service, who are looking into this to try to get to the bottom of it.”

The rest of the night then descended into MAGA madness:

Sen. Mike Lee: “This should be the beginning of the end of America’s relationship with the UN. The UN deep state tried to embarrass Trump and make him less safe Instead, they embarrassed themselves and gave momentum to the effort to defund the UN.”

Trump social media coordinator Alex Bruesewitz: “Someone very clearly tried to sabotage Trump at the UN. Completely unacceptable. Someone must be held accountable.”

Michael Flynn: “It is high time the US gives the UN the middle finger, walks away from it, tells those that want to stay to build a new UN in the Gaza Strip since most of the nations love Hamas. Turn the current UN into a hotel and stick a giant “TRUMP” sign on the outside! AND Assign Delta Force as his personal security. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. These are dangerous times and we can no longer kid ourselves.”

Newsmax host Todd Starnes: “Trump steps on the escalator at the UN and it stops working. Then, as he is about to deliver his speech, the teleprompter stops working. Coincidence or intentional hijinks designed to embarrass our president? Fortunately, we have a president who can climb stairs and can communicate coherently without the use of a prompter. Once all the illegals are deported we should do the same to the UN.”

Fox Business contributor Charles Payne: “Will they ever learn? These stunts only enhance the aura of Trump.”

Fox columnist David Marcus: “It looks an awful lot like someone at the UN intentionally stopped Trump’s escalator, hoping to make a 79 year old man have a fall. Also, this could have hurt his wife who he had go before him as a gentleman does on stairs. Trump’s not gonna be like that.”

NY Post reporter Miranda Devine: “This can’t just be ignored. Trump should move the UN to Gaza. It’s just one giant grift fest as every New Yorker knows this week especially.”

Rep. Tim Burchett: “Defund the UN.”

Susan Crabtree, national security correspondent for RealClearPolitics: “Why did the Secret Service allow Trump and Melania to get stalled on an escalator today at the UN before his speech without moving quickly to protect the leader of the free world and his wife? The stalled escalator with Trump and Melania stuck on it was a classic set up for an assassination hit, yet the Secret Service barely noticed and didn’t pull POTUS and FLOTUS off the suddenly stopped stairs.”

Katie Pavlich, editor of Town Hall: “The escalator stopped as soon as First Lady Melania and President Trump stood on it upon arrival to the UN. Then, the teleprompter wasn’t working when Trump took the stage Then the microphones, which were audible for the previous speaker, were not amplifying sound at the same level when Trump started speaking. It was hard to hear in the room.”

Talk show host Dana Loesch: “No, I don’t believe the escalator stopping at the UN was accidental, nor the teleprompter, nor the mics - especially after an article last week where UN workers questionably joked about doing it. Maybe there is a good explanation, but I’ve not seen one yet.”

Geiger Capital got over 10 million views on this post: “This is insane. As Trump arrived to the UN, the escalator stopped working the moment he stepped on it. Then the teleprompter stopped working the moment he got up to the podium to speak. The fact that someone was able to do this to the President of the US is another failure by the Secret Service. If he was halfway up, he was a sitting duck. Guns should’ve been drawn instantly.”

Podcaster Brenden Dilley: “If we discover that the UN deliberately turned off the escalator and risked everything injuring the president and first lady, we should bomb them. All of them.”

Mike Cernovich: “The Secret Service is a joke. Trump needs to bring in Ranger Regiment for security. An escalator stops? Then guns are out. Today was a disgrace and makes us look weak. I don’t have time for “it was only a prank.” No, it was a direct threat on our President.”

Harmeet Dhillon, head of DOJ’s Civil Rights Division: “Deport the UN.”

Jack Posobiec: “The stopped escalator was a massive security breach.”

Juanita Broaddrick: “Heads need to roll!”

Alex Jones: “SABOTAGE: Escalator At The UN HQ Stops Abruptly When Trump Steps Onto It, And Teleprompter Malfunctions Before He Begins Speaking!”

Cattturd: “It was 100% deliberate. We need to find out who did this. We need to leave the UN now! This was deliberate sabotage. Period. End of story.”

Johnny MAGA (reportedly the account of Ali Alexander): “In all seriousness, if the stopped escalator was an act of sabotage, whoever is responsible must be severely punished. Melania lost her balance and had to quickly grab the rails. The President and First Lady could have fallen and been injured.”

Wall Street Mav had 2.3 million views on this: “When the escalator came to a sudden halt, Secret Service just looked around hoping someone would fix the problem. That wasn’t supposed to happen and it turned Trump into a stationary target. Why did they not cover and evacuate him immediately? If we fund 22% of the UN budget, Trump should demand 22% of UN staff positions and get his people in roles that call the shots internally.”

Hans Mahncke: “First off, this was 100% deliberate. Just by itself, it would already have been extraordinarily unlikely given the coincidence with Trump stepping on the escalator, but this foreshadowing makes it indisputably intentional. Second, those responsible should not just be fired but also investigated for reckless endangerment, mischief, and potential battery. What a total crap house the UN is, where militant employees behave like reprobate adolescents.”

If you missed last night’s Today in Politics Bulletin recapping everything that happened yesterday, you can find it here.