X

Sean Spicer suggests 'covfefe' may be Trump code word

Commentary: After the president sends a tweet that includes a strange word, his press secretary doesn't claim it was a typo.

Chris Matyszczyk
2 min read

 Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.


Press Secretary Sean Spicer Holds Daily Press Briefing At White House

Will we ever know the truth?

Mark Wilson / Getty Images

I don't know what the nuclear codes are and neither do you.

For all we know, the word "covfefe" may be a part of them. 

This became the word du jour on Wednesday, after the president tweeted this late on Tuesday night: "Despite the negative press covfefe."

Sanguine minds might have thought he meant "coverage." The president, however, offered an amused tweet on Wednesday morning: "Who can figure out the true meaning of "covfefe" ??? Enjoy!"

But then came White House press secretary Sean Spicer. It was surely inevitable he would be be forced to address it in Wednesday's off-camera White House press briefing.

Asked whether the president's tweet seemed a touch incoherent, he replied: "The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant."

A large group of people surely believes he meant "coverage." Does this mean that a select group knows something more?

One might have imagined that Spicer would have scorned the assembled throng of (mainly) fake-newsers and asked them whether they had truly never tweeted something nonsensical. But no. 

Instead, we are left to speculate that "covfefe" may be some sort of secret code that might mean: "Where's my KFC?" or "Attack North Korea."

The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for further enlightenment. 

What, though, if "covfefe" was an acronym? 

I can come up with the following possibilities. I feel sure each is possible.

How about this concerning a publication that Trump especially dislikes: Come on, Vanity Fair is Effeminate, Freakish and Execrable.

Or the very topical: Climate Onanism Versus Flat Earth Freedom Executives.    

But I think I have it. I really think I have it: Commanding Officer Views France and Europe as Frigging Enemies.

Technically Incorrect: Bringing you a fresh and irreverent take on tech.

Special Reports: CNET's in-depth features in one place.