There’s virtually no silver lining to having Trump as president, but if anything comes close it’s the constant stream of ridiculous things we can laugh at. This presidency has been better than any other at generating fodder for memes and we’re all looking forward to the day we can fully appreciate them in the rearview mirror of history.
Ivanka Trump visited a job training center in Waukee, Iowa and posted a picture of herself doing a little science on Twitter.
Talking #WorkforceDevelopment and Infrastructure in Iowa today! @realDonaldTrump’s #Infrastructure initiative includes a robust plan to expand skills-focused learning to prepare the next generation of American workers for 21st century job opportunities. pic.twitter.com/10md8d5tnz
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) March 19, 2018
As Business Insider reports, she was measuring the nicotine levels in vape juice.
And Twitter reacted by turning her field trip into a hilarious meme.
This is Ivanka’s dumbest photo op yet. lookie me, doing science. https://t.co/CM75mqZ8bk
— Clara Jeffery (@ClaraJeffery) March 19, 2018
Ok, here’s my meme; I hope everyone looks at it, cause I’d love some opinions. There was so damned much material to choose from. pic.twitter.com/Ko2XSUWI4H
— never claimed i was funny (@veronicamariez2) March 20, 2018
Last summer she was blogging about champagne popsicles. This year she’s apparently finding the cure to cancer.
— AKhamis (@killawattannie) March 19, 2018
Hey @IvankaTrump it’s great that you like to cosplay as a scientist on Instagram but some of us are an #ActualLivingScientist. Tell us about what you’re doing in this picture. I’m making a battery. #ILookLikeAnEngineer pic.twitter.com/fW5CFxLYAF
— Holly aka Leia ? (@absolutspacegrl) March 20, 2018
Ivanka: We want to take pictures of your jobs
Scientists: Great, we’ll make sure to look our best.
Ivanka: I actually meant pictures of me pretending to do your jobs. Sorry. https://t.co/WekmSrFKwf
— Awesome Sauce (@captidiotdad) March 19, 2018
Ivanka looks like a scientist in a low budget straight to DVD movie. pic.twitter.com/4Couc0nxoG
— ?? Migs (@Miguel_M1GS) March 20, 2018
analyzing my mcm’s likes pic.twitter.com/JV7rfYLHa2
— Sophia Benoit (@1followernodad) March 20, 2018
when the receipie calls for the tears of exactly four poor children pic.twitter.com/uPet5U43Z2
— Colin Diersing (@cdiersing) March 19, 2018
— Maggie Serota (@maggieserota) March 20, 2018
I imagine that as she did this she softly whispered to herself, “Science.” pic.twitter.com/h501KJ1erh
— Jess Dweck (@TheDweck) March 20, 2018
Both science and job training for STEM careers are worthwhile endeavors, that’s what makes it so weird that a special advisor to President Trump was on hand to promote them. The purpose of the visit was to bring attention to Trump’s infrastructure plan which includes federal funding for job training centers like the now Ivanka visited. However, Trump is far from a champion of science. His budget proposals have included drastic cuts in research funding across the board. According to Science,
“The White House wants to cut the Environmental Protection Agency’s $762 million Office of Science and Technology by about 40%, for instance, and eliminate several climate science programs. It also wants to kill five NASA earth science missions, eliminate the agency’s $100 million education office, and defund DOE’s $306 million Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. Research programs at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would drop by nearly 40%, whereas agricultural research and the U.S. Geological Survey would each take about a 20% hit.”
House Republicans also tried to tax graduate student tuition, a measure that would “upend the American PhD system,” according to one professor. Not to mention the president’s hostility toward global climate change and other scientific facts.
If Ivanka Trump and her father want to convince the rest of us they support STEM careers and scientific research in general, they’re going to need more than a photo-op. Wearing a lab coat doesn’t make you a champion of science just like physically being in the Oval Office doesn’t make you a competent presidential advisor.