The mockery of Trump is much more purposeful—and more therapeutic to those who remain unwilling to accept him as their president and are deeply concerned (rightly or wrong) about his direction for the nation. If “covfefe” means anything to his detractors, it is a sure sure sign that Trump is presiding over “ an impressive amount of ineptitude,” as David Brooks recently put it in a withering recent column about the Trump administration’s “incompetence crisis.”

“Covfefe” is an answer to all those who worried about the United States turning into Stalinist Russia. Tajikistan? Maybe. But even that would require sacrificing some weekend golfing at Mar-a-Lago, not to mention a laying-off the self-pitying tweets about tough coverage on CNN.

In a way, “covfefe” humanized Trump to supporters and opponents alike. Maybe he is a “dotty old racist,” as Pod Save America co-host Jon Lovett calls him with something approaching affection, a senescent figure “ whose thoughts are often just six fireflies beeping randomly in a jar ” ( Brooks again ). As such, he is more worthy of pity than fright. “Covfefe” could even be a cry for help.