On Tuesday, as a deadly virus rages out of control across the country killing over a thousand people a day, outgoing President Donald Trump spent an inordinate amount of time retweeting his admirers on Twitter.
One of the people Trump retweeted was the actor Randy Quaid, who’s mostly made the news of late for his arrests, conspiracy theories—including QAnon—and attempts to escape outstanding warrants in the U.S. by seeking asylum in Canada. (He now resides in Vermont, along with his wife Evi.)
“Team Biden is now officially in contact with members of the outgoing administration but Trump still refuses to identify himself as ‘outgoing.’ He has not conceded, this is Day 21 of #Squattergate, and he is ready to eat his own,” offered Jimmy Kimmel during his late-night monologue. “He is not happy with Fox News, or some of his fellow Republicans. This morning, he expressed this displeasure by retweeting actor Randy Quaid.”
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Yes, Trump retweeted Quaid five times on Tuesday, including one where he floated an “in-person-only-paper ballot re-vote” in certain states, as well as a deranged video where Quaid is seen in close-up, a colorful strobe flickering in his face, as he howls, “Fox News’ daytime ratings have COMPLETELY collapsed! Weekend daytime even worse. VERY sad to watch this happen,” before making a bunch of very strange noises. The accompanying message reads, “TIME TO MAKE OAN & NEWSMAX RICH. FOX IS DEAD TO ME!”
“Look out, kids, Santa’s been eating bath salts this year,” joked Kimmel, adding, “Randy Quaid…let’s just say he makes Gary Busey look like Dr. Fauci.”
“For those of you who remember Randy Quaid as Cousin Eddie from the Vacation movies, he has a long list of accomplishments outside acting too,” he continued. “He’s been arrested a few times, he tried to get asylum in Canada, he believes there’s a group called The Hollywood Star Whackers that is plotting to kill him, and our president retweeted that person five times today.”
When I spoke to Quaid’s actor-brother Dennis earlier this year, he said of Randy, “I miss my brother. I have to love him from afar, but that’s the relationship that I have with him. I find a lot of the social-media stuff very puzzling myself. I’ve even had to remove myself from that and just love him from afar. I’m still praying for him. He’s one of my favorite actors ever, and I think he could still have a comeback. I really do. A great third act.”
