Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tweeted a parody of a communication between President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev that echoed a curt, sharply worded letter sent by President Trump to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The faux correspondence is dated during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 and replaces Kennedy’s normally stately language with casual slang and profanity. “Don’t be a dick, ok?” the fake JFK letter begins. “Get your missiles out of Cuba. Everybody will say ‘Yay! Khrushchev! You’re the best!’ But if you don’t everybody will be like ‘what an asshole’ and call your garbage country ‘The Soviet Bunion.'”
Trump’s Oct. 9 letter to Erdoğan usurped typical diplomatic language and channeled Trump’s blunt way of speaking. “Let’s work out a good deal! You don’t want to be responsible for slaughtering thousands of people, and I don’t want to be responsible for destroying the Turkish economy—and I will,” Trump wrote. “I have worked hard to solve some of your problems. Don’t let the world down.”
Found in the archives… pic.twitter.com/iFFeqloYHM
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 20, 2019
Since the Trump letter was released earlier this week, the language has been picked up and joked about on both sides of the aisle. “History will look upon you favorably if you get this done the right and humane way,” the letter from Trump continued. “It will look upon you forever as the devil if good things don’t happen. Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool! I will call you later.” Erdoğan is reported to have immediately thrown the letter in the trash.
The JFK parody Clinton posted lampooned the last part of Trump’s message to Erdoğan. “You’re really busting my nuts here,” the fake letter said. “Give you a jingle later. Hugs, John Fitzgerald Kennedy.”
