Trump’s #TacoBowlGate, one year later

One year ago, on May 5, 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump set the internet ablaze by posting a picture of himself enjoying lunch to Facebook and Twitter with the caption, “Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!”

The backlash was swift. Trump’s transparent attempt at pandering to the Latino community left some observers laughing at its sheer absurdity, and others denouncing him for cultural insensitivity. Everyone from political pundits to celebrities weighed in on the post, boosting it to nearly 90,000 retweets and 806,000 Facebook likes in the past year.

Many of Trump’s statements on the campaign trail sent the internet into a frenzy, but this particular post stands out as one of the most memorable.

Here is a selection of #TacoBowlGate reactions to take you back to a time before Trump was president and the media thought it was impossible:

• Liberal website Vox wrote an entire article titled, “Donald Trump’s taco bowl, explained”

• Teen Vogue called Trump’s post “insensitive and inappropriate on so many levels,” and referred to it as “salt in the wounds of the Mexican Americans and Mexicans that he offended.”

• The Houston Chronicle issued a list of questions for Trump, including “Should he even be claiming Trump Tower Grill has the best taco bowls when Yelp gives the restaurant a mere 3.5 stars out of five?”

• In under an hour, Hillary Clinton’s campaign hit back at Trump in a tweet with an attack ad.

• TBS host Samantha Bee called Trump a “racist prick.”

• “I wish he were a smarter guy than this,” said former Vice President Joe Biden.

• Jeb Bush responded to Trump by saying, “showing your sensitivity by eating an American dish is the most insensitive thing you can do…. to say this, next to all things he already said, is a further insult.”

• Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., pleaded for help, tweeting: “Please someone wake me up.”

• Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, both hoped Trump’s post was a joke.

• Actor George Lopez addressed Trump on Instagram, writing: “After lunch you can take that thumb and shove it deep in your ass.”

• Former Mexican president Vicente Fox said he “[hoped] that he will not get indigestion.”

Perhaps most telling was the reaction of Reince Priebus, who simply explained, “He’s trying.”

For his part, Trump defended the post, predicting in an interview with Fox News, “I’m going to do great with Hispanics.” While “great” turned out to be an overstatement, Trump did end up outperforming Mitt Romney by an estimated one point among Hispanic voters, according to exit polls.

After six months of reflecting on the media’s treatment of Trump, the mass hysteria over #TacoBowlGate looks a little excessive.

Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.