U.S. President Donald Trump stood near the charred remains of Paradise, California on Saturday (he called it “Pleasure”) and said that Finland doesn’t have problems with destructive wildfires because that country “rakes” the forest. No one, including the president of Finland, had any idea what Trump was talking about. But the comment did spark a new internet craze, leading virtually the entire country to get outside and do their “haravointi,” which is Finnish for “raking.”
“You gotta take care of the floors. You know the floors of the forest, very important,” President Trump said as others around him looked baffled. “I was with the President of Finland […] he called it a forest nation and they spent a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things and they don’t have any problem.”
The hashtag on Twitter is really something to behold. Virtually the entire country is mocking President Trump for his ignorant comments. But President Trump should be getting used to this by now. World leaders at the UN laughed in his face when he proclaimed that his presidency had accomplished more than almost any other in history.
Just this afternoon I was busy meeting my raking quota. #RakeNews #Finland #Haravointi pic.twitter.com/HLaHU0bimO
— Tarja van Veldhoven (@tarjuccia) November 19, 2018
#haravointi #raking in the forrest in Finland 😉 #Trump pic.twitter.com/h4fSY77i8v
— Pauli Juusela (@PauliJuusela) November 18, 2018
Because I’m a Finn. #raking #haravointi pic.twitter.com/Uvbzx1sXHk
— Emmi Suomilammi (@EmmiSuo) November 18, 2018
Just waiting for this leaf to drop so I can rake it! Any minute now… #haravointi #raking #Finnish pic.twitter.com/J0Mw6bZ7ci
— Anu Koskela (@anu_on_trains) November 18, 2018
And it’s not just rakes. Some Finns are showing how they vacuum the forest to really get the job done.
Just an ordinary day in the Finnish forest ~ Ihan normipäivä suomalaisessa metsässä #Trump #forest #firesafety #raking #forestry #Finland #Finnish #CaliforniaFire #RakingAmericaGreatAgain #rakingtheforest #Suomi #haravointi #metsäpalot #rakingleaves pic.twitter.com/YOKA3D6C2K
— Pyry Luminen (@pyryluminen) November 18, 2018
One video explains that it’s not Finland’s cold and wet climate that prevents wildfires, but the raking. They even have entire schools devoted to raking, he joked.
Good luck Mr Trump! Best raking regards from Finland! pic.twitter.com/xsV5qHZ1Jk
— Aleksi Valavuori (@Valavuori) November 18, 2018
There are plenty of photoshops as well:
#haravointi pic.twitter.com/rDQqtbgQeY
— Red (@RhodeliaRosea) November 19, 2018
#RakeAmericaGreatAgain #RakeNews – I haven’t laughed that much as I laughed today. Thanks @realDonaldTrump ???????????? pic.twitter.com/fkmazWBvVb
— Emilia Inkinen (@ilikewoolsocks) November 18, 2018
OK, it’s too late to practice (for my neighbors anyway), so what to do.
I make MAGA meme hats!!!#raking #RakeAmericaGreatAgain #haravointi #MakeAmericaRakeAgain #Trump #ForestFires pic.twitter.com/5Q3lvAjiBd
— Richie Vitale (@RichieVitale) November 19, 2018
And videos really show how the Finns prevent fires from getting out of hand:
Other countries got in on the act as well, with Germans lamenting the fact that their un-raked forests are vulnerable, and Canadians showing how they rake the forest in the most futuristic ways possible—with their Roombas.
#haravointi
Oh bless your hearts you cute little Finns. It’s so quaint that you frolic among the elves while raking leaves. Here in Canada we have automated with our forest Roomba. The money we saved is going into building a border wall. Guess which border we’re walling off? pic.twitter.com/AvMltRT0x4— Larry Gouge (@sunnyinsooke) November 19, 2018
For the record, these historic and devastating fires in the United States are being made worse by climate change, not a lack of raking.
The long and the short of it? President Trump, no matter what you think of his policies, is simply too dumb to be president. He has no idea what he’s talking about on almost any subject and just makes things up as he goes along.
Previous U.S. presidents used to have their entire legacies defined by a single gaffe. But we’ll forget all about this raking nonsense by tomorrow because there will almost certainly be some new, mind-numbingly idiotic comment that shows just how dumb our president can be.
It’s a scary time for America. But at least we can take solace in the fact that President Trump’s incompetence and lack of intellectual curiosity might actually be making us safer. It’s hard to share vital national security secrets with foreign adversaries when you don’t even read your presidential daily brief.
What an idiot. What an absolute idiot.