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Trump text alerts star in apocalyptic parody trailer

Jimmy Kimmel unveils the sheer terror of The Textening.

Amanda Kooser
Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.
Amanda Kooser
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Your actual emergency test message didn't look quite like this.

Video screenshot by Amanda Kooser/CNET

A Wednesday test of FEMA's new warning system sparked intense responses from many recipients of the presidential alert

Some have sued to stop them, but late-night host Jimmy Kimmel decided to shoot an over-the-top movie trailer instead.

Jimmy Kimmel Live posted the parody trailer on Wednesday. It plays out one amusingly extreme outcome of President Donald Trump's ability to mass-text Americans. 

The trailer starts off innocently enough with a family driving along in a minivan. The presidential alerts arrive, but they're not just tests anymore. 

The messages start to shout some of Trump's favorite phrases, like "witch hunt" and "fake news." Then it all descends into madness.

An Apple Watch and a kitchen knife add some light gore. The trailer takes the sort of reactions we saw on Twitter and amplifies them with literal explosions.

While Wednesday's alert was just a test, a real alert sent through the system would indicate a serious crisis. It's not designed for Trump to send personal messages to Americans. Otherwise, the Kimmel trailer might become all too real.