The line for the “Donald J. Trump Presidential Twitter Library” stretched from around the building to an encased pair of arms with tiny, child-sized hands.
The hands, which hold a smartphone and were displayed in front of portraits of individuals who were the subject of several Trump tweets, including businessman Mark Cuban, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, and comedian Kathy Griffin, were the opening to the pop-up exhibit in downtown Washington, D.C., by Comedy Central.
The crowded opening afternoon of the event Friday — which was also Trump’s 73rd birthday — drew primarily anti-Trump visitors looking for a bit of levity in a politically chaotic world.
“I think laughter is our best defense against the unknown or the threatening,” said 42 year-old Clayton Martin from Atlanta, told the Washington Examiner. Martin said he appreciated the creativity of an exhibit “out of something so simplistic and silly.”
Headphones were provided underneath the portraits for visitors to listen to the celebrities’ responses to the president’s tweets. Exhibits were organized into categories of tweets, such as including “Deleted But Not Forgotten” and “Sad! A Retrospective.”
“My favorite part so far is the small hands,” said 50-year-old Cindy Butehorn. Butehorn attended with her daughter, 20-year-old Jessica, a George Washington University student. The two were celebrating Butehorn’s birthday.
Other parts of the exhibit were still difficult for Jessica Butehorn. “The tougher ones for me to read are just the ones where he says really derogatory things about women.”
“It can be a lot to take all at once,” her mother said.
Others show the chronology of Trump’s Twitter highlights, including those sent prior to becoming president. Trump joined the social media service in 2009.
“It culminates everything that is Trump,” said 20-year old Rowland Staples, from Silver Spring, Md.
Staples thought it was “crazy” to look back on Trump’s tweets questioning the veracity of former President Barack Obama’s birth certificate.
His friend Lauren Frost, also 20 and from Silver Spring, said Trump’s back-and-forth with rapper Kanye West over Twitter is “really funny” to look back at.
West later met with Trump in the Oval Office, going viral for a nearly eight-minute rant captured by media during the event.
At the end of the library, visitors had the opportunity to send out a “presidential tweet” from the “commander-in-tweet account” in a mock Oval Office, complete with golden toilet.
The library runs through Sunday at the Showroom.
