Nearly every day, President Trump does something that people who didn't vote for him find infuriating. Sometimes it's hiring someone who has never presided over a court case to a federal judgeship. Sometimes it's picking fights with other country's leaders in a Twitter war.
But this time, Trump has gone far enough to infuriate both conservatives and liberals. He's coming for the elephants, and his motivations for doing so will probably infuriate you.
Elephants are geniuses, basically. Here's some proof:
Elephants have the largest brain of any land animal and three times as many neurons as humans. They can identify languages. They hold funerals for their dead. And yet, some people find fun in hunting them.It seems as though President Trump doesn't have much respect for elephants, though.
Elephants are listed as "Endangered" under the Endangered Species Act.
However, there's a special provision in the act that allows for trophies of endangered animals to be imported if there is evidence that hunting the animal benefits conservation. When Trump rolls back Obama's ban, this loophole will allow trophy hunters to import elephant trophies. But why is Trump doing this? Is it just because he hates Obama?Twitter has some theories:
Call me cynical, but I have real trouble in believing that Donald Trump Jr is the sort of chap who goes all the way… https://t.co/XoxmKdTot4— Beau (@Beau)1510863739.0
Trump has spoken before about his sons' love of hunting.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump was quoted saying, "My sons love to hunt. They are members of the NRA, very proudly. I am a big believer in the Second Amendment. But my sons are hunters, Eric is a hunter and I would say he puts it on par with golf, if not ahead of golf. My other son, Don, is a hunter. They're great marksmen, great shots, they love it." As you could probably guess, Twitter is outraged by the Donald's decision.As this Twitter user points out, there are some things that aren't about politics.
Obama protecting endangered elephants wasn’t partisan. Some things aren’t Democrat or Republican — just humanitari… https://t.co/quoTzE7GLR— Adam Best (@Adam Best)1510846587.0
Even Ellen Degeneres had something to say on the matter.
Compassion, social intelligence, decisiveness, patience, wisdom. These are all qualities found in elephants and not… https://t.co/GefG6RDUSr— Ellen DeGeneres (@Ellen DeGeneres)1510853514.0