The nearly 10,000 fake Washington Post papers (of 25,000 printed) that bounced around the nation’s capital Wednesday and hailed President Donald Trump’s ouster from office may have come across as a snarky joke, a way to get under the media-loving President’s skin.
But according to a co-founder of the prankster activist group behind the stunt, the papers were printed to inspire.
The Yes Men’s Andy Bichlbaum (pseudonym used by Jacques Servin) told TPM that “people need to believe in something.”
“Democrats for so long have offered nothing, left so many of us in the dust,” he said. “They need to change and take over and people need to apply lots and lots and lots of pressure.”
The phony papers, which include an action guide, were meant to show dissatisfied Democrats that a Trump-free future is attainable, if they organize and push Democratic lawmakers to take a stand and act on his “many impeachable offenses.”
“Now is the time to hit the ground and get active—we need to apply pressure mainly to Democrats so Democrats in office oppose Trump himself and Trumpism,” Bichlbaum said. “We want to get Trump out of office fast as possible by adopting bold, brave, progressive visions.”
He added that the “other, better world” without a President Trump is “closer now than a few years ago; in times of intense polarization, societies really change.”
In reality, though Bichlbaum thinks that the “better world” can be reached even before the 2020 election, the reality isn’t cause for optimism. As long as Republicans control the Senate, any chance of Trump’s removal from office through impeachment is remote, no matter how much pressure activists apply.
The Yes Men’s dollop of inspiration also came at a cost. Bichlbaum said that the real Washington Post’s lawyers were displeased with the trademark infringement, and that the Yes Men are working to “circumvent legal issues” as their phony website crafted to accompany the papers gets booted from various hosts.
“We’ve faced much worse,” he said nonchalantly, referring to the Yes Men’s rich history of pushing legal boundaries in their attempt to satirize and draw attention to various societal ills.
The project also had a financial cost. The Yes Men raised $36,000 from their email list, but the total came in at $40,000 leaving them a “little in the red.”
Despite the drawbacks, Bichlbaum was pleased with the results, saying that people were “thrilled” with the stunt. “We got so many emails thanking us for allowing people to imagine this future and see it in all its glory.”
