President Donald Trump recently stumbled upon a puzzle that left him genuinely baffled: How does a laptop that’s been turned off… turn back on? The answer to this Scooby-Doo-level mystery, according to what he told Fox News recently, lies with his youngest son Barron’s “unbelievable” tech prowess.
During a recent interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, Trump recounted what he considered a mind-bending technological feat by his son Barron. When asked whether the 19-year-old had more aptitude for business or politics, Trump responded, “Maybe technology,” and then launched into an anecdote that… well, you should check out for yourself.
“He can look at a computer,” says Trump, with a straight face. “I turn off his laptop, I said, ‘Oh good,’ and I go back five minutes later, he’s got his laptop. I say, ‘How do you do that?'”
The answer, for those playing along at home, is that Barron pressed the power button. The same skill that I can proudly say was recently mastered by my 2-year-old niece—though admittedly, she’s still working on the whole “not eating crayons” thing, so perhaps we shouldn’t set the bar too high.
Social media had a field day with this, as you can imagine. People were quick to highlight the yawning gap between Boomers who view technology as dark sorcery and Gen Z-ers who emerged from the womb already knowing their parents’ Wi-Fi password. “This is exactly how my grandma looks at me when I fix the TV by switching the input,” remarked one user.
If pressing a power button makes you a tech prodigy, does my ability to turn on a laptop and navigate actual software make me some kind of digital demigod? Should I be updating my resume?
Barron Trump is currently enrolled at NYU’s Stern School of Business, which, considering his father’s response to the question about business versus politics aptitude, and the answer being “technology” for some reason, is peak irony. If turning on a laptop qualifies as technological genius in the Trump household, I dread to imagine what constitutes business acumen. Successfully opening a briefcase? Mastering the art of the stapler?
On a more serious note, there’s something genuinely unsettling about a president marveling at technology that’s been commonplace since the Clinton administration. This is the same commander-in-chief who couldn’t distinguish a falcon from America’s national bird and who attacked his own Federal Reserve appointee while blaming Biden for the reappointment. At some point, the “adorably confused grandpa” shtick stops being endearing and starts being a legitimate concern when said grandpa has access to the nuclear codes and can command the military to invade sovereign nati… oh wait, he already did.
(featured image: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
