Trump Spares African Elephants, Keeps Getting Clowned On Twitter As ‘Big Game Trophy’ Hunting Decision Paused
President Donald Trump gained plenty of backlash when it was recently announced that elephant trophies from two previously banned African countries would once again be allowed, as reported by the Inquisitr. As news spread that the Trump administration was planning to lift the federal ban on importing body parts from African elephants into the U.S. that had been shot and killed for sport, social media users erupted with rage.
Trump took to Twitter on Friday, November 17, to proclaim that he was putting his decision to lift the ban on big game trophy hunting on hold until he could review “all conservation facts.” Trump’s tweet is being met with plenty of negative comments, from folks asking why he didn’t review all of the facts about conservation prior to making the choice to lift the ban. As reported by the New York Times, Trump reversed his own administration’s decision in another controversial move involving using elephants as decorative items.
Photos like the one below, showing Donald Trump, Jr. holding the severed tail of an elephant during a big-game hunting trip in 2012, began to go viral on social media amid much backlash over President Trump’s reversal of the ban. Trump’s decision was hugely unpopular and caused a public outcry from celebrities.
Back in 2012, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump went big-game hunting https://t.co/BWwT67h2A6 pic.twitter.com/mNs6gOT99f
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) November 18, 2017
On Twitter, Ricky Gervais? called Trump’s initial decision a devastating blow to the survival of African elephants, whom the comedian called beautiful animals. Gervais called Trump’s decision a heartbreaking one that was both “savage and pointless.”
Seth MacFarlane wrote on Twitter that Trump would “really have to be a special kind of human garbage to lift a ban on elephant trophy hunting,” in an early morning tweet that also went viral on Friday.
Now that Trump has reversed his decision, some people are praising him for doing so. Wayne Pacelle, a premier animal protection advocate, ?wrote on Twitter that he was grateful that President Trump reassessed allowing the import of elephant and lion trophy hunting. Wayne called the trophy imports “the kind of trade we don’t need.”
Josh Greenman? compared Trump’s response to an earlier reply to basketball players, quipping about the African elephants saying thank you to President Trump.
[Featured Image by Alex Wong/Getty Images]
