OPINION: White House claps at Weather Channel over… forecasting the weather?

The White House's official ‘Rapid Response' account has continuously proven that its emotional immaturity knows no bounds. With constant vulgar tweets targeting news media, influencers, and even random people, @RapidResponse47 is one of the most fascinating reflections of how Donald Trump has pulled American politics into WWE-style tomfoolery. We've briefly covered a couple of tweets from Rapid Response, but it seems like the account becomes more unhinged every day. Is it a direct reflection of Donald Trump's psyche? Potentially. But what's certain is the account is vulgar, insulting, and absolutely unpresidential.

Rapid Response 47 is the bridge between Donald Trump's administration and the public. It is different from the White House's official account and @POTUS. Both of those accounts existed before Trump and will exist long after. @RapidResponse47 is the mouthpiece of Donald Trump's administration. A purpose-built account dedicated to defending America's fearless leader from ‘fake news', ‘haters', and literally anyone else who publicly disagrees with America's president. This past week, the story drawing the most criticism from the public has been Donald Trump's extravagant ‘UFC 250' – a gaudy fight night on the White House's lawn.

Rapid Response screams at the clouds.

We'll be breaking down a few embarrassing tweets from @RapidResponse47, but the one that sparked this article was made on the morning of June 14, hours before the fight night began. Just past 10 AM on June 14, the official Twitter account of the Weather Channel posted about potential weather conditions in DC that night. The tweet featured a photo of the stage on the White House lawn, and warned that “Rain, 30MPH winds, and Mosquitos on the White House lawn” were all a risk. The tweet outlined that the Weather Channel was predicting a 60 per cent chance of thunderstorms, heavy downpour, and serious wind gusts approaching 30 MPH. The tweet mentioned how DC's humidity index would most likely bring swarms of mosquitoes and gnats to the lawn, potentially affecting the athletes.

The tweet was not made for no reason. In the days leading up to the event, sports pundits criticized the event for being held outdoors (it was the first UFC event to have done so). Even UFC supporter Joe Rigan criticized the idea, claiming ‘I don't like the idea of fighting outside at all'. Of course, Rogan would later flip his opinion, but his point was still made. Even the UFC's greatest supporters had doubts about the outdoor setup, with weather playing a large part in said doubts. The Weather Channel exists to comment on relevant weather news, and that's what it did on June 14. It commented on important forecasts that would potentially impact one of the most widely watched TV events happening that night. It did not state any opinions; it simply reported the weather.

Apparently, that was too much criticism for @RapidResponse47 to stomach. The Twitter account ‘crashed out' as people noted on social media, going on a short tirade calling out the Weather Channel. Rapid Response called the account ‘a friendless loser' and called the tweet a ‘Bulls**t' clickbait headline. The tweet also claimed that “Rain or shine, we're celebrating our great country no matter what”. The problem is that the weather was a factor. The main fights had to be pushed back due to inclement weather. The UFC pushed back all fights 45 minutes due to a thunderstorm moving from West Virginia, and the delays resulted in the event lasting until after 1 AM.

Not the first, not the last

This tweet was just one example of how @RapidResponse47 is a reflection of Donald Trump's presidency. America is now defined by a leader who is rude, crass, vulgar, and disrespectful. While it's truly comical that his mouthpiece will attack literally anything it sees as critical of Trump, it's also terrifying. Donald Trump is literally yelling at the clouds and anyone else he deems anti-American, which has quickly become a catch-all term for ‘anti-Trump'. Donald Trump's feelings are as sensitive as his words are offensive.