Perennial tabloid fodder and person-doing-an-impression-of-himself Donald Trump announced he was running for President yesterday to much public chatter. According to The Washington Post, Trump received roughly 113,000 social media mentions, surpassing any of the other GOP front-runners by a wide margin. Though it's suspected most of the mentions were ironic or expressing disgust, it shows that The Donald, regardless of how serious he takes this whole "leader of the free world" thing, can draw media buzz.
The polarizing nature of his "campaign" was captured perfectly by his hometown tabloids treatment of him: the Democratic-leaning (but, by no means progressive) Daily News put Trump in a clown suit to convey the general consensus on the center-left that he's more of a punchline than a serious candidate; while the Murdoch-owned, rightwing New York Post positioned Trump in a heroic pose, ready to claim 1600 Pennsylvania Ave as he would beach front resort property. It's a goofy sideshow to an increasingly goofy GOP race that seems to have more candidates than The Apprentice.
With its tacky "TRUMP" logo over the White House, The Post cover plays into a fear many have long-held: that if Trump were to win the Presidency, he would turn American into a Casino-littered hellscape built around a cult of personality of a rich scumbag, much like the dystopian alternate future in Back to the Future 2:
