Joshua Trump is living, sleeping proof that there may yet be a Good Trump among us.
Joshua was invited to the State of the Union—every 11-year-old’s dream!—by First Lady Melania Trump. The White House released a statement before the 90-minute speech saying Joshua was invited because other kids at school bullied him for having the same last name as the president. While his appearance seemed to counteract the intention of distancing himself from the name and rang out as a hollow, self-serving move by the White House, Joshua managed to go from showpiece to national icon in the span of one nap.
The speech itself sucked. In the time Joshua could have played five or six quality Fortnite matches (or Overwatch, I’m not here to label—who do you main as Josh??) President Donald Trump droned on about the specter of socialism, threw out some racist remarks, not-so-slyly called for an end to “partisan investigations,” talked about how women are all right enough but abortions are evil, and threw in some coup-baiting comments about Venezuela. It was the regular shit everyone in America that lifts their head to pay attention hears every day from the commander-in-chief, only dragged out over a movie’s-worth length of time with intermittent clapping. It was bad but so is everything, which is to say the night went basically as expected.
And yet, by the power of public napping, Joshua broke through the verbal sludge and the constant sniffling to provide one of the lonely bright spots of the dreaded affair. Eyes closed, head thrown back, the Delaware native—sitting exactly one seat over from the First Lady—was conked the hell out. There are probably plenty of reasonable, age-and-bedtime-specific explanations as to why Joshua couldn’t hang through the constant standing and sitting and listening. They don’t matter, really. All that matters is that when America needed it most, Joshua stepped up, slumped back, and provided physical proof that it’s emotionally possible to actually relate to a Trump.