This political season is not like the others.
Political opponents have become sassier, savvier and funnier when it comes to attacking rivals — using social media and humor to add insult to political injury. Some — including Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump and New York Democratic Congressman Charlie Rangel — have made trolling into an art.
Now that it’s the end of the year, here’s a look back at some great examples of trolling:
That time Trump gave out Lindsey Graham’s phone number at a campaign event
Known as one of the most memorable moments from the already colorful presidential election cycle (so far), Trump made waves by releasing Lindsey Graham’s cell phone number live at a campaign event.
He urged attendees at the event in South Carolina, where Graham serves as a senior senator, to call the number.
“Give it a shot,” Trump said.
The cell phone number turned out to be, indeed, Graham’s personal cell phone number.
Later, the then-Republican presidential candidate, who dropped out of the race last week, partnered with Independent Journal to release a joke video about him destroying his flip phone now that everyone had the number.
And then Trump sent Marco Rubio water bottles with his face on them
Ever since his response to the State of the Union in 2013 — where Marco Rubio awkwardly grabbed for and drank from a bottle of water just off screen mid speech — the incident has been a rolling political joke around the Internet.
In October, Trump revived the meme sending Rubio “Trump Ice Natural Spring Water.”
Rubio himself has poked fun at himself after the incident in the past, and has even brought it up during one of the 2015 Republican debates.
When Rangel made a smoothie instead of going to vote on the next House speaker
On October 8, Rangel decided to skip the first House Speaker vote and make himself a smoothie — and then tweeted about it.
The 85-year-old congressman from New York tweeted, “Made myself a smoothie in my office & watching news about GOP mtg to elect next Speaker not going smoothly” with photos of him in his office making the smoothie and then holding it at his desk.
The tweet came during the news that House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy dropped out of the race to succeed then-House Speaker John Boehner, causing chaos within Congress because the move was unexpected among his colleagues.
The smoothie tweets didn’t end there. After New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was kicked out of an Amtrak car after talking to loud on his cell phone while holding a McDonald’s smoothie, Rangel saw an opportunity.
He tweeted at the presidential candidate on October 26, “Unlike @GovChristie I keep quiet in quiet car & blend my own smoothie w/ real fruit (tho it 2 may not go smoothly)”
Chris Christie didn’t respond to Rangel’s tweet.
When Hillary Clinton sent her Republican presidential rivals a copy of her most recent autobiography…
Also in October, Hillary Clinton’s campaign said that they sent her newest autobiography “Hard Choices” to her GOP presidential rivals as a way to show off her accomplishments while she was secretary of state.
“I understand that you and your fellow Republican candidates for president were questioning my record of accomplishments at your last debate, so I thought you might enjoy reading my book, ‘Hard Choices,'” Clinton’s letter to her potential rivals said. “From working to restore America’s standing in the world to bringing crippling sanctions to Iran to negotiating a ceasefire in Gaza, please enjoy all 596 pages of my time as secretary of state. With 15 candidates in the race, you’ve got enough people for a book club.”
… And then Rand Paul put his on eBay
Sen. Rand Paul placed his copy of Clinton’s book — signed by both him and Clinton — on eBay, promoting it by writing “GET YOUR OWN SIGNED COPY OF A GREAT FICTION BOOK!”
“Hillary, your refusal to provide security for our mission in Benghazi should forever preclude you from higher office!” the Kentucky senator wrote in black ink before affixing his signature, according to a photograph in his online store.
He listed the item’s condition as “brand new” and its subject as “fantasy.”
When a pro-Clinton super PAC sent Donald Trump-style hats to the GOP presidential candidates
A pro-Clinton super PAC called Correct The Record mailed versions of Donald Trump’s well-known “Make America Great Again” trucker hat to Republican candidates, each with a candidate-customized take on what the group considers anti-Muslim rhetoric.
“The hateful proposals of the rest of the Republican presidential field are just as outrageous as Trump’s,” the group said in a statement.
Former Congressman John Dingell’s Twitter account
He may have retired after being the longest serving congressman in history, but John Dingell is also well known for his entertaining political Twitter accounts. He is always tweeting his take on current events, taking fun stabs at politics when the opportunities arise.
During the summer, he weighed in on the guacamole pea-gate, after the New York Times published a controversial guacamole recipe that included peas. It stirred a reaction from people from both political aisles, including President Barack Obama and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
Even Dingell weighed in with some trolling, writing, “Why would anyone add guacamole to perfectly good peas?”
On November 10, he live-tweeted during the Fox Business Republican debate, writing one tweet that said, “Politics aside, can you imagine voting for any of the people on this stage?”
Later, he followed up with his own version of the winners and losers for the debate, writing, “Winners: Advertisers, pundits. Losers: Viewers, middle class families, science, common sense, reason, sanity, our future.”
On December 15, the day of the most recent Democratic debate, the former congressman from Michigan tweeted, “Anything good on TV tonight?”
